


The Universe of the Four Gods

by Yusagi



Category: Fushigi Yuugi
Genre: Alternate Character Interpretation, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Best Friends, Canon Rewrite, F/M, For Want of a Nail, Love Triangles, Two Protagonists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-07-17
Packaged: 2018-03-31 17:20:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3986407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yusagi/pseuds/Yusagi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If, when Miaka and Yui both entered the book that very first time, the two were never separated, how much of the story might change from there? If the two best friends could support each other in their journey through the strange world from the start, what choices might change? What changes might those choices spark?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Young Ladies of Legend

**Author's Note:**

> Until Chapter ten, this fic is actually an updated/fixed version of an old 2004 fanfic. Certain elements from that had to remain to allow things to progress to the point the fic finds itself at chapter 10.

_Two ladies of legend screamed, voices nearly swallowed up by the powerful roar of the earth and air around them, as they fell through darkness with impossible speed and weightlessness, crashing through the space between worlds with such suddenness that neither bore witness to it, yet landing on new ground like two soft feathers._

_Even after their trip was finished, the two of them remained cringing, waiting for the end._

_The dark-haired one was the first to dare to open her eyes again, wary of her surroundings, as if they might slip back into another world at any moment._

_Slowly, the two girls began to process the difference of surroundings. No longer were they in a dark and dusty library room, but instead they knelt in the middle of an open and barren wasteland, livened only with the occasional leafless tree._

_Their wonder and confusion could only last so long, however, for they were not so alone as they believed themselves to be._

_Two dark figures approached them in their confusion and distraction, and fell upon the two young ladies, intent on capturing the both and selling them into slavery. Despite their valiant struggle and teamwork, the two young ladies were no match for the strength of the cruel men, and were quickly overpowered._

_The two men were interrupted before they could take away the ladies by a passing young warrior with a noble heart, who quickly dispatched the both of them, and attended to the welfare of the young ladies with concern. Despite his pure heart, however, the mysterious and handsome young boy quickly lost interest in the young ladies when it became clear that they possessed nothing to reward him with for his rescue._

_Before the young ladies of legend could ask any of the questions their sudden arrival had summoned in them, the young man was already gone, leaving them to puzzle over their confusion on their own._

_After some debate, reflecting both on their situation and the young man who abandoned them, the young ladies chose to follow after the man, full of energy and hope of shelter and an explanation of their strange circumstances once they found civilization once more..._

"I'm _so_ tired...I think I'm going to pass out right here!" The dark haired girl complained, trudging along the road, head hung low and shoulders hunched inward.

"We've only been walking an hour!" The other hissed, directing an exasperated expression at her.

"Yui!" The dark haired girl's expression brightened somewhat as she stared into the distance and pointed her finger ahead of them. "Look, Matt-donalds!"

"Huh?" Yui frowned, and turned her gaze in the direction indicated. In the distance, the hazy shapes of a small village loomed just barely in sight. Her expression hardened with determination, and she quickly grabbed her friend's arm. "Hurry Miaka! Before sunset!"

The girl, despite her somewhat increased vigor, simply stumbled along at the same pace she had been before. "So...exhausted...must...rest..."

"Th-the sooner we get there, the sooner we eat!"

Miaka's eyes lit up with a new-found energy, and she raced past her blonde friend, calling behind her, "Hurry! What's the hold up, Yui?!"

Sighing, Yui followed after.

By the time they made it to the large archway entrance to the city, Miaka collapsed onto Yui's shoulder, "Can't...breathe.."

"That's because you _ran_ the whole way! I said we should _hurry_ , not sprint it!" Yui growled, shaking her off.

Miaka had already become distracted though, frowning up at the gate. "...Up close though, this isn't Matt-donalds."

"Of course it isn't." Yui huffed in annoyance and frowned over at her friend. "What made you think we'd be anywhere _near_ something like that after how we got here?"

"Well...but the tower looked like a big 'M' from a distance..."

The rough voice of a gate guard interrupted their conversation. "Halt! Who are you?"

"W-we are just...travelers...please, do you know where one might find a suitable inn?" Yui asked, cutting short the response she'd been forming for her friend before the guard spoke.

"Hmph, by the look of ya, I'd say the Beggar's Inn..." the guard replied, "down that road there."

"Thank you..." she replied, bowing slightly and leading Miaka in the direction the soldier had indicated.

"Wow, you sound so...knowledgeable saying it that way!" Miaka said, laughing.

"Everything that we've seen so far...it just feels like one of Morin's fantasy novels. We should probably play along with that idea until we can get back." Yui said, frowning once more.

"We will get back, won't we?"

"Of course!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Yuki? _Yuki!_ " The man growled.

"Sh-she's not here..." someone said.

"Unbelievable! She'll never make it like this!" The man fumed, making a large X on his chart, "I better not see any of this from the rest of you! I'll have you know, this cram school isn't to be taken lightly! Only the most dedicated of you will make it through to the end! If you're not committed enough to make it here on time and every day, then you're not committed enough to get into high school! Why, even if you managed..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Although the two young ladies arrived at Beggar's Inn, a run-down and tiny shack of a business, without incident...they encountered yet another problem: just as their fickle savior had demanded payment they didn't possess, so too did this town require currency incompatible with theirs._

_The inn-keep was a worn and stern man, but he recognized the plight and the honesty of the two young ladies at his door, and provided an exchange for a shared room for the night instead. Provided the choice between waiting tables for the mismatched and unruly crowd of visitors in the main room and washing the dishes they left behind to relieve the overworked cook, the two quickly chose the quiet and secluded option. Although the man was fair, the inn was busy even by the standards of the cook that shared the small kitchen with them, and the young lady's evening was filled with work and suds, with hardly any time to stop even for food..._

"Ohhh...my poor, poor hands..." Miaka whined, rubbing at her dry hands as she stumbled into their given room.

"Hand-friendly dish soap it ain't." Yui agreed, pushing the dresser in front of the door.

"You sure that will keep 'em out?" Miaka asked, envisioning the leering eyes of the other customers with a worried frown.

"Well...unless they're super men...yeah."

"Wow..." Miaka sighed, and then flopped down on the bed. Once her worries were allayed on the matter of the creepy customers, her thoughts to the other things that kept popping up in her mind. "I wonder what Mom and Keisuke are doing now...I bet they're worried sick..."

"Don't worry Miaka...We'll find a way back, I promise. Tomorrow." Yui said, sitting across from her on the bed.

"Who do you think that boy was...?" Miaka whispered.

"That...I...don't know." Yui replied, staring into space, "but...I want to see him again..."

"Why? Do you think he can help us?"

"I..." She blinked, as if waking from a dream, and shook her head, expression so exhausted from work that she might just have been on the edge of sleep a moment before. "I don't know, Miaka...let's...just get some rest."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Herein contains the tale of a young lady and her quest to gather the seven constellations of Suzaku together._

_And if you, the esteemed reader, should read to the stories end, the spell continued within this book shall bestow upon you the powers of the heroine, and grant you your wish._

_For indeed, the moment the page is turned, the story will become a reality._


	2. The Boy With The Demon Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This stupid girl wasn't actually stupid at all. Actually, she was insane. Wandering the countryside outside of the city on her own (with a pretty girl, at that!) on foot, dressed provocatively and without any money to bribe anyone or purchase services was stupid...and a little alarming.
> 
> This girl was far, far worse than stupid.

_Despite the late hour the young ladies fell asleep, one woke as dawn barely broke over the horizon, pulled by an unknown force out of bed and to the window, mind befogged with sleep and confusion. In the distance, among the growing crowd on the ground outside, the young lady felt the pull of something familiar and strange at the same time, and despite her lack of sleep, couldn't help but give in to her curiosity and investigate._

_Below the window the young lady looked through, she spotted the roguish traveler making his way deeper into the crowd. Although she nearly cried out to him, the young lady realized she had no way to identify him without a name, and any loud noise would only wake her sleeping companion. Instead, driven by purpose and curiosity, the young lady slipped out through the window with barely a noise and dropped from the ledge outside into the milling crowd, seeking out a destiny she had yet to discover._

_Inside the quiet inn, unbeknownst to the young lady in the street, the one who remained in bed stirred at the sound of the open window, and found herself sitting in an empty room, still barred by the dresser she herself had placed against the door the night before._

_The young lady who slipped from the room and into the crowd with such initial purpose, meanwhile, quickly found herself turned around and lost without a clear goal in an ever thickening crowd. As she wandered, she did not wander without garnering the notice of those around her. While some spread the word of a strange young lady asking after a boy she had lost, others observed her behavior with darker intent.  
_

_One such observer approached her as she wandered to a thinner part of the carnival, offering to show her the way to who she sought. But the young lady was not the only one frantically searching the crowds for someone. Elsewhere, nearer to the inn they had spent the night in, another young lady made her way through people, asking after her missing friend, rather than the money-driven rogue._

_Meanwhile, the object of the confusion that swirled around the young ladies remained unaware of either young lady's search..._

"I hate these festivals." The older bearded man tossed his coin to the table with disgust, as the younger man and subject of the search, scoffed and collected the currency for himself.

"Didn't you _just_ say how much you loved them?" He tucked the money purse in his belt as he observed the other man, smile sly and gaze keen. "Something about how many _suckers_ come in to down just to watch the festivities. That's what you said."

The other man made an annoyed sound and smacked his hand on the table. "I should have known better! More people means more _cheats_ like you! Pretending to be new at this game and then rigging it so you'd steal away all of my money."

The young man's smile quickly dissolved into a scowl. "I'm no _cheat_! You're the one who made all of the assumptions all on your own! And it's not like I'd have needed to rig the game playing you, anyway. You make so many poor decisions I had to pretend I was _helping_ you just to make sure you survived long enough to get to the betting stage of the game!"

The older man jumped to his feet, both hands on the wooden table, a motion quickly matched by the younger man. "Don't bother to pretend! You're a rotten cheat making up stories to cover that I caught you!"

" _Yeah?_ So how come I don't see you proving anything then, huh? Why don't you just get up and go home while you've still got some scraps of dignity left? Because you're _definitely_ not going home with this money!"

" _Why you little-_ " The man lunged across the table at the younger man, intent on throttling him to retrieve his lost mon. Before the motion could be completed, however, the younger man's hands came up, gripping wrists and twisting them into unnatural and uncomfortable angles.

The older man's face glowed an angry red, bathed in a sudden incandescent light, and his rage and pain quickly transformed into awe and fear. His eyes were fixated directly on a spot above the younger man's eyes, as if the light emanated from there, and he stumbled back away from the table, pointing. "D-D- _He's a demon!_ "

"Wha..." The younger man blinked in surprise, glow fading away almost immediately. "Wait! _No_! You've got it all wrong-!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In truth, he loved the festivals. He loved to see the people all around, to be a part of them as anyone else would be...but all of the pomp and circumstance required for the festivities kept people far too distance to engage in conversation, and his advisers constantly worried.

Worried advisers meant unpleasant days. The carriage too was unpleasant, overly warm, dark, and closed in. While inside it, he could barely see the festivities he was meant to be enjoying, the outside world and his people seen only through a dark red haze of silk and satin, masking expressions and obscuring the sunlight...cutting him off and keeping him away from the country he watched over and the people sworn to serve him.

The company he did have wasn't the most pleasant, either. The head of his security, senior guard of the carriage was not an unkind or unfriendly man...but he had no sense of humor, disliked the frivolity of Hong Nan festivals, and perhaps most important, could not imagine setting aside formality and propriety enough to speak candidly with his emperor. Inside the carriage, his only company was old, paranoid men far too concerned with what would become of the kingdom after his death to address him about anything that involved his continued existence.

It was so very cold in the stuffy, hot carriage.

Despite that...he really did love the festivals.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The young lady huffed in frustration. "Where the hell _is_ she?!"

Exactly how could a girl like _Miaka_ go wandering blindly through a crowd like this and _no one_ have seen her at all? After all, even if Miaka tried to be discreet (she couldn't be. Yui knew her friend well, and of the things her friend excelled at, sneaking was not among them) her clothing should have made her memorable. The school girl outfit _should_ have gathered at least some small crowd or...something. It wasn't like anything anyone else was wearing, and...Yui felt a little under dressed next to everyone else, in fact.

The closest she'd come to a lead so far was an old man who thought she was talking about birds and lemons when she tried to track down either Miaka or the boy that she must have been following after (why else would Miaka be out here without telling her?). It was like there wasn't anything remarkable about Miaka at all, and everyone who saw her just forgot as soon as she was gone.

But then again, no one was following _her_ , either. Maybe their clothes weren't as weird and unusual as she felt like they were after all.

She really hoped being unseen would make Miaka _more_ safe, instead of less. At least that way only the people she wanted to see her would see her, right?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He'd decided.

This stupid girl wasn't actually stupid at all. Actually, she was _insane_. Wandering the countryside outside of the city on her own (with a pretty girl, at that!) on foot, dressed provocatively and without any money to bribe anyone or purchase services was stupid...and a little alarming.

This girl was far, far worse than stupid.

" _WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?_ " He wouldn't have bothered to say anything at all (even if she could hear him, clearly she wasn't listening to anything even vaguely resembling reason), it was just that in his shock and confusion the exclamation slipped out. He could be excused, he was sure of that. Absolutely no one remotely in their right minds _wouldn't_ be.

She very obviously wasn't. _Dear Suzaku did she just tear the fabric off of the Emperor's carriage?!_

The right and merciful thing to do was probably to just let her find her fate, because with three times in two days (with increasing severity!) it was obvious this girl's time had come, or she'd decided for herself to find the worst possible fates she could. Defending her would just mean she'd find something harsher tomorrow, or worse: he'd have to come and save her again, wasting time and effort and risking himself on a crazed girl with a death wish.

It would have been the smart thing to do to just let the guards behind her seize or skewer her and walk away, given he knew already there would be no reward from her, and quite possibly there might be a bounty involved in saving her. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice. He didn't think about it long enough to decide that, or...more accurately, he felt compelled. His body almost moved on its own as he launched himself through the crowd, leaped into the air, and swept the ill girl off of her feet and out of the range of the guards.

"What's wrong with you? You wanna get _killed_?" His hiss was mostly directed at himself, because he knew the answer from her already...but if she wanted to explain herself, so much the better.

She didn't. Of course.

It really didn't take long at all to regret saving her. Again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" _Miaka_!" Her scream was swallowed by the shouts of the crowd. Even if she could have been heard, it wouldn't have done anything, she knew, but what else could she do? She pushed her way past the people standing petrified, strained, ran as quickly as she could, but she knew she was too far away already. She'd never make it before the angry looking guard's sword came down.

Her eyes were so blurred with desperate tears that it appeared as if Miaka disappeared.

For a few confusing moments she found herself standing still, caught between horror and bafflement. She stared at the spot where Miaka used to be (torn fabric on the ornate carriage fluttering lazily from its recent movement and what might have been a gust of wind). The guard stumbled slightly as his swing connected with nothing, and Miaka...

Where was Miaka? She couldn't be dead, she hadn't ducked, because...because. _Where is she...?_

Yui turned her gaze slowly across the area, tearing it away from the point she'd been transfixed on moments before, and scanned the crowd. She only found Miaka when the crowd suddenly scrambled away and red light burst from the middle of it, just a little ways ahead.

_That's..._

Squinting, straining to see across the distance and through the light, Yui could just make out the shape of Miaka, curled up into a ball, hovering in the _air_...

"Miaka...?"

She started slowly toward the light and her friend, jostling the crowd and shoving her way through in a rude, completely absent-minded manner. Something about that light...it seemed familiar...maybe she would have approached her friend and the strange phenomenon no matter what, but somehow, she found herself slowly walking across the packed dirt toward it without even any control of herself.

_What is it..._?

She didn't make it very far, though, couldn't get close enough to reach out and touch it. Before then, Miaka shouted something, and the light vanished suddenly, causing her to drop back down into the arms of the person who must have somehow spirited her away to begin with (the boy from before, now that she was this close she could tell). After that, everything moved too quickly and too violently for her to intervene.

Panicked guards, who'd warily encircled the two of them when Miaka was glowing, quickly drew their knot tight, a sword hilt blurred through the air, and the man collapsed to the ground boneless, letting Miaka fall as well (judging from her limp fall, she must have been also unconscious).

She shouted...something. She wasn't sure what. It wasn't planned, she couldn't remember after, and she didn't even know if she said it appropriately. It didn't matter, though, because all of the shouts of the crowd and the guards dealing with Miaka and the boy were too loud for anyone to hear her anyway.

In her state of numb panic, she didn't even question the fact that she had to chase them somehow. She credited that strange sort of confidence to her ability to slip quickly through the crowd this time, and for the crazy idea of crawling under the ornate carriage (while all of the guards had moved away and all of the people in or out of it were staring elsewhere) and clinging to the bottom of it to follow.

She also credited it to that plan actually _working._

_If I die...I'll never let Miaka hear the end of it._


	3. Priestess of Suzaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miaka wasn't laughing at the empress for being 'too pretty' to rule, she was laughing at the emperor. And calling him a woman. She was still calling him a woman. Right then. Actively. So much so, in fact, that Miaka ran up to the man, the head of the royal family, and began to manhandle him.

_The two ladies were escorted to the palace in their separate ways, one escorted by soldiers for the sake of the roguish traveler, and one hidden in the shadows, pursuing the first for the sake of friendship. Once arrived, the two ladies' paths split despite their best efforts, as the unconscious first was carried away with the traveler she had sought out to the dungeons of the palace. The second, trapped in hiding until the guards passed, was forced to remain still and quiet, waiting for an opportunity to rescue her friend and escape the palace.  
_

_Unknown to them, the emperor of the land had a far different purpose for his new captives than imprisonment and death. Indeed, despite the frightened urgings of his court, the emperor sensed the significance of the young pair in his custody...and the bright light which the young lady had projected in her encounter with his guards had only further solidified his belief in her importance._

_Prudent as he was, however, he chose not to act immediately on his belief, and so the young lady was left in the cell to rest overnight. Stymied in her efforts to slip by the guards at the door of the dungeon that day, the other young lady also found herself trapped in a room. waiting for the opportunity to cross the courtyard and rescue her friend.  
_

_When the new morning dawned on the palace and guards were lax, the young lady finally made her move, slipping into the dungeons below while the guards were tired and distracted. The trapped young lady was not idle either, having woken just earlier, and already hatched a plan to escape, terrifying the guard at her gate with a trinket from her world and allowing herself the opportunity to steal the keys he possessed._

_The sound of the guard's terror was enough to spur the searching lady forward, toward the cell where the captive one remained, celebrating their impending escape with the roguish traveler she had been trapped with. Blue goo stuck to the lady's face, and the guard at the door lay crumpled on the floor against the tall bars keeping them penned in. The keys, which the young lady had yet to collect, were quickly collected by the other young lady.  
_

"You'll be needing these, I think..." Yui shook the keys in her hand, holding the ring between two fingers, hoping to cause enough of a ruckus to catch both of their attention even through their celebrations.

" _Yui_!" Miaka slurred through the...gum on her face, then scrubbed it off of her face with an irritable look. "It's you!"

The boy, the one that had rescued them before and apparently had something to do with Miaka ending up in the cell, made his way out of it as Miaka worked on getting stray strands of the stuff off of her face and out of her hair before it solidified.

Yui still didn't know his name, and he still didn't volunteer the information by the time Miaka was finished, and staring at the door with a look of surprise and wonder (though whether it had to do with the rescue or something else, she wasn't certain.) "Hey, you gonna stay in there, or are we gonna get outta here?"

She didn't wait to find out.

Unfortunately, her planned route of escape was cut off by the morning guards (guards she hadn't seen at all before, because she'd only been in the palace from the late afternoon onward), so they had to detour. Quickly. And the 'detour' actually just ended up meaning that they ducked into a nearby building to hide (the boy grabbing Miaka's elbow and dragging her in quickly before she'd have been caught anyway).

For a random building, it was pretty impressive. The room itself that they'd walked into was surprisingly huge, and an incredibly elaborate mural of a peacock-like bird was painted into the far wall, lit by various flickering candles and shimmering in the light in a manner that suggested strategic placement of gems and gold. Unlike the dungeon, this place was one she would have imagined existing in a palace.

Miaka gasped after a moment once she caught up with Yui's observations. "What's that bird?"

The boy scoffed. "That's Suzaku. _Everyone_ knows that." Having dismissed the question, he wandered slowly up to the wall, expression far more thoughtful and reflective than she would have expected from a man who'd been offended by 'thanks' when it didn't accompany money. She caught something about a shrine despite the fact that his words were obviously meant for himself.

"...Suzaku?" She couldn't really help asking, even if it made her feel a little dumb asking about something 'everyone knew'. She enjoyed learning, and there was no telling how long they'd be stuck in this world before they got back home. Knowing vital things like what they'd dedicate a huge building like this to in a palace (obviously a prominent religion, if it was a shrine) wasn't really negotiable, anyway.

"Eh?" He glanced over at her as if to confirm the question, before shrugging and turning back to the mural. "It's one of our gods. There's 'Seiryuu', 'Byakko', 'Suzaku', and 'Genbu'. Suzaku is Hong Nan's god, each of the three other empires have their own god to worship. Obviously."

"So it's...a peacock god..."

" _Peacock_?!" He turned on her in confusion and what might have been mild offense. "Suzaku is a _phoenix!_ How do you get those confused?!"

"It...it's got really long tail feathers!" Admittedly, looking at it now it _did_ look more like a phoenix than a peacock, but that just made her more flustered to have gotten it wrong the first time. _In front of him, too...I don't think I even want to know what he thinks of me after the slaver thing and this..._

His annoyance faded after a moment, and he turned back toward the mural. "Actually, Suzaku is the god of love. He just happens to take the form of a phoenix. It's wider than that, actually. It's love, lovers, passion, destiny, and sometimes revelry. Things that are high emotion, deep feeling. That's Suzaku. Each of the beast gods have their specialties, though. Seiryuu is war and calculation, his followers value violence, but they can take things without violence, too. It's more like...force and determination. Seiryuu is really intense. Genbu is...uh...scholarly things, mostly. Peaceful activities, like healing and reading..." He waved his hand. "You know. Gods aren't really my specialty."

"Are you saying you don't know what Byakko is?"

"Huh?" He frowned back at her.

She crossed her arms loosely and wandered up to stand next to him, observing the mural more closely. The detail and care put into it was...extreme. _Just how many people for how long had to work of this thing? I wonder if there's others like this throughout the palace, too..._

"You didn't tell me what Byakko leads."

"...How do you not know this kind of stuff? Are you both just crazy?"

"Maybe our parents just didn't care about us learning this kind of thing!"

He scoffed, and she thought she heard him say 'I doubt _that_...', but he spoke again before she could pursue that. "Hard work. Beasts. It's kind of nebulous, because it's also heat. See, it's sometimes set by the emperors of the ruling country to embody what they feel their people best represent...and sometimes it's used to legitimize a ruler, or excuse actions, and sometimes it's done the other way around.

There's no better way to secure loyalty for a new emperor whose right to rule is questionable than to use one of the gods to back it up...but then sometimes people just look back and want to deify emperors they _liked_ , and then they change the god or the emperor to be more compatible with each other. And then there's really no telling what they really represent unless you were to ask a god yourself..." He drew in a breath then and clapped his hands. "But that can't happen, so it's not really important. Right now we just need to think about escaping."

...He had a point, they could probably hold this question and answer session at some point when they weren't actively in danger. After all, if they had to hide, Miaka was never...

Never...

quiet...

" _Where's Miaka_?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She was a very funny looking person, for being a child of prophesy. Not the clothing, that one made sense. If she really was who she might be, strange clothing was to be expected. As were many other oddities and quirks, to be fair...but still.

She'd started to run in a small circle, rather than actually _try_ any of the routes available to her. He'd never seen anyone react quite like that. Refusing the choice, or making the wrong choice, that he'd seen. It was perfectly reasonable, and he wouldn't count it against her if she had done either. He'd have been impressed if she'd found her way back even without an empty stomach to guide her to where she'd left her friend behind (he had...expected both to arrive, it was a happy surprise to get to observe her alone instead).

She was going to tire herself out and collapse with all that food in her stomach if she didn't stop running in a circle like that and burning through all of the energy she'd just built up (not to mention her stomach might churn, and that wasn't a thing he'd wanted to inflict on either of them), so something would have to be done to intervene for her.

A slim, feminine finger pointed off to the north. "The door's just over there."

Rather than take that advice, the girl simply jumped and spun toward the sound of the voice itself, expression surprised, perhaps even shocked. Apparently, she'd been too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice she wasn't alone after all.

"...So. You're the one they captured yesterday?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Where did she wander off to?" Yui growled in frustration. "I can't even believe that she'd just _wander off_ at a time like this!"

"Maybe she was captured...?" The boy suggested, though with a tone of voice that was somewhat too hopeful to be reassuring.

"In the room we were in without us noticing? No way...I'm sure Miaka somehow found... _food_ or something..."

"If that's the case-"

"There! The prisoners have escaped!"

"Ah... _crap_." He sighed in exasperation, then broke into a run, gesturing for her to follow after him. The gesture wasn't necessary, however, as she'd already started sprinting after him as soon as she'd seen him moving. It wasn't like there was much choice. Even if Miaka were captured (especially if) there wouldn't be any good done getting captured themselves.

"What do we do _now?"_ After all, they were in the middle of what must have been the most secure and guard-filled compound in the entire city. They couldn't just go out through the exit, because...that would be the _guarded entrance,_ and did any of them know this place well enough to even start to guess where to hide? And what about Miaka...

"What's it look like we're doing? _Running_!"

_Oh, yeah. That's just a great plan!_

Despite her frustrated annoyance (it wasn't exactly his fault they were in this position, after all) and the scowl she initially directed at him...and also the running...she realized after a few moments that she didn't even actually have a name or even a title or nickname to assign to him while mentally ranting about him. If they were about to be executed, she should at least know the name of who she was dying next to.

"You know it's funny!"

His expression, which he gave with surprising speed, was anything but amused. His fault for interrupting her before she could explain herself, though.

"It's _funny_ , I've gotten you into so much trouble," or maybe Miaka had, but she'd gotten so used to sharing Miaka's blame on things that it was natural to continue in this place and situation too. Even considering the consequences. "But I don't think I've told you my name!"

He shrugged slightly, an interesting gesture to see while he was trying to run. "That's okay. I figured it out anyway."

... _Oh, that's right. I forgot how much of a jerk he is under that friendly face of his_. But then, he'd been perfectly nice and civil up until this point, explaining all of that stuff about the country's mythology and such. Maybe it was a side effect of being in life-threatening situations...

Or maybe he was just thinking about how they weren't going to pay him for helping them out like this again...

_Then again! Maybe he's just an idiot!_

"I'm pretty sure it's still rude not to introduce myself, considering the circumstances!"

Another half shrug, as he grabbed her arm and yanked them around a sharp corner. "I think I can forgive you, given the circumstances!"

...She couldn't quite summon irritation at him, but she tried.

"That's the thing, I don't think I-" Her final attempt at wrenching his name (any name. At this point she was considering 'wonder boy' just to give him something) out of him came to an abrupt a halt as their run. Slightly more abrupt, because she stumbled and he skidded a bit. "...Uh."

_Wall...of guards..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I think it's the end of the world."

"I've heard demons have invaded the palace!"

"If it were the end of the world, don't you think the palace would be facing far more difficult and terrifying foes than three rogue prisoners running around?" The small group of women who chattered amongst themselves with the excitement of those who lived very routine lives fell silent at the last, firm voice that spoke. One of the two glanced up with some trepidation at the figure that stood nearby.

"But they brought in a demon and its cohort yesterday! I heard that myself!"

The figure scoffed, wandering over to gaze out of an ornate window. "I don't believe that. Even if they did, don't you have faith in his Imperial Highness' abilities to handle one single demon?"

The girls muttered amongst themselves for a few moments. "But...there's so much commotion..."

"Well...maybe instead of prisoners, all of the commotion is that he's finally planning to make a visit here?"

_That_ , it seemed, managed to divert the women's excited chatter to a completely different subject.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I'm waiting on that plan of yours."

The young man scowled at her about a moment before one of the guards smacked her in the back of her head. She thought that she saw his expression change to one of alarm, briefly. She couldn't be sure, though, because her vision blurred and watered from the impact too quickly to process it.

She did hear him shout something at the guards though. It didn't do much for the pain, but at least he wasn't still making stupid faces at her just because she called him on his lack of an actual plan of escape.

She should probably try to come up with one, but with the new ringing in her ears, it was hard to think of one.

"Ow..." She reached up to gingerly rub at the back of her head. It was a bit difficult to achieve while her wrists were bound with rope...but at least it didn't cause the guard behind her to attack her again.

The man next to her frowned at her as if he wanted to say something, but apparently the threat of being clubbed over the head was enough to refrain from it. So, apparently her pain did something good...but she wasn't really sure it was worth it, all things considered.

A third guard approached them, and in the corner of her vision she could see her companion tense. Was that anticipation or worry? Worry was good, if he was hoping to overpower their guards. They'd dropped down to just two once they decided it was better to run off and report their find than swarm two bound prisoners all the way back to a cell. It maybe had something to do with Yui being a new prisoner.

_Miaka...you'd better have found some way out of here for all of the trouble we've gone through looking for you..._

As it happened she actually did have a plan, but it required her to get her hands behind her back, and as good as she was at PE, she wasn't gymnastic enough to do that. She'd have to get someone else to do it for her. Which was kind of difficult, seeing as _his_ hands were tied _behind_ his back. It was almost like this group of guards was used to dealing with pairs of prisoners. Disturbing.

As the guard began to speak, she lurched suddenly to the left, purposefully tripping and crashing into the boy beside her. The angle was a gamble but...yes, they ended up spiraling onto the ground and down the small incline next to them. She hissed at a volume she hoped he'd hear over his surprised shout as they crashed to the ground. "Knife in my pocket, get it!"

It _hurt_ , rolling down a hill and tumbling over another person while she couldn't even use her arms to break or control her fall, but she was pretty sure she felt him tug at her pocket at some point while they rolled. It seemed much too quick for him to actually get it, but once they stopped rolling, she caught a flash of light vanish into his sleeve.

_Pick-pocket..._

Manga, it seemed, was made of nothing but lies. When they landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the hill they weren't really in any kind of compromising position at all. He was on top of her, but at a strange angle, back toward her, legs skewed and awkwardly tangled with her, head lying in the grass, and she was...mostly just lying on her back. Which worked, because it allowed her to slip the knife from his sleeve into her long-sleeved jacket, but it wasn't really romantic, it was just...awkward.

The guards quickly descended on them and yanked them back to their feet, movements unnecessarily harsh and painful. She yelped and winced, concerned they might have wrenched her shoulder as she stumbled to her feet, and that boy tossed her a pensive...annoyed look. _Well, it's not as if I could tell him the plan ahead of time, could I?_

Anyway, moody companion or not, the important part was that she had something to start working on freeing herself with. Maybe she should have let him keep it, actually, since he was the one more likely to be able to free them (considering how he took down a couple of those guards before they were overwhelmed), but...she didn't feel like waiting on whatever plan he had.

She'd just make one and he could follow it.

"You two, you must be with the other one. Where is she?"

She glanced over at her fellow captive briefly, sharing a look of _so she isn't captured!_

He scoffed and rolled his shoulders with an amazing kind of dexterity, considering how tightly his arms were bound. "Guess she must have gotten away while you idiots were chasing us."

Oh so _that's_ what she looked like when the guard hit her. Ouch. "Yeah!" She spoke up, before the guards could start beating him up badly enough to keep him from eventually helping them escape. "We're just decoys, and you've been spending so much time focusing on all our trouble that you've got _no idea_ where our companion is now!"

"...Exactly what she said!"

She was just about to make a theatrical laugh (made difficult with the murderous look given by guard nearest to her) when Miaka showed up. Out of the bushes. _Like an idiot_.

"What's your _problem?!_ " Oops, was that her voice getting so high? Still, it was appropriate, given Miaka just had to _stay still_ and she'd have been able to escape. What good was it for them _all_ to be captured? The gum trick wasn't gonna work twice!

Their third guard (apparently in Miaka's hurry to make things worse she'd missed him) charged from behind Miaka, reaching up to grab her shoulders and secure the last prisoner (he must have wanted a bonus...), and despite her inability to do anything, she started toward her friend anyway.

In an instant, the man was gone. In his place, that boy stood behind Miaka, ropes falling from his arms as if he were the one who'd been sawing at them with a knife. Which she almost wouldn't be surprised by, since her own progress was pretty sad for a person holding a sharp objects to thin ropes. Mostly, though, she was just surprised by his _speed_.

_I didn't even see him move!_

The boy shifted then, moving to stand in front of Miaka with a deadly serious look that reminded her of the time they'd first met. "Lay a finger on either of them and die, got it?"

She'd been briefly stunned by his actions, but his declaration snapped her out of it a little. She couldn't just stand around and be rescued a second time, or he'd...demand money and abandon them in the middle of the palace or something...

She stumbled forward quickly, finally finishing off the ropes at her wrists, and giving a shout of triumph. A thick hand slammed down on her shoulder, gripping steel tight. Apparently that threat wasn't as intimidating to a man with a sword as it would have been to her.

Speaking of swords and steel, she heard the sound of steel hissing out of a scabbard. "You _little_ -"

" _Silence_!" A new voice rang out as sharp as a weapon itself. From behind where Miaka and their would-be rescuer stood (he tensed and about to strike again) _another_ person jumped out of the bushes where Miaka had been hiding. _So-she'd r_ _un off with someone?!_

Wait-

What did that person just say about direct orders?

"Your majesty!"

Yui glanced back quickly at the guards behind her, who had stumbled back and dropped to their knees. Ahead of her, their stalwart companion looked pale. And...under the plain blue robes that fluttered to the ground behind the new figure...those robes looked _extremely well made_.

The person _towered_ over all of them except their rescuer, but given the long hair and fine features...it must have been female. Apparently, it must have been the empress? The emperor must have _really liked_ tall women. _Well...their tastes could be pretty eclectic..._

Miaka, meanwhile, was simply staring up at the woman, apparently unaffected by the proclamation. _How did Miaka befriend the Empress? In this time?_

...Miaka began to laugh. "How could a beautiful young woman like that be-"

Her companion made a shrieking sound not unlike a woman himself. "His majesty is _all man_!"

...Oh.

_Oh_.

_I'm gonna be sick..._

Miaka wasn't laughing at the empress for being 'too pretty' to rule, she was laughing at _the emperor_. And calling him a woman. She was _still calling him a woman_. Right then. Actively. So much so, in fact, that Miaka ran up to the _man,_ the _head of the royal family_ , and began to manhandle him.

_...I'm gonna die. We're both going to die. She dragged me into this damn book instead of studying, and now she's going to get me killed._

Miaka exclaimed that _it was flat_. And continued to paw at him as if she were trying to find proof she was wrong.

_Oh, no. I'm going to faint. Yes. That way I can miss whatever horrible torture they have lined up for people who touch the emperor. Maybe if I stay out, I'll even miss out on dying! Because it's not like we're getting out now, not when she's just going to keep making it worse. I'm just gonna faint. And then we'll die._

...The thunderous command never actually came, though. Instead, the strange, feminine looking man simply...smiled. _Why is he smiling?_

Miaka, unaffected by anything, possibly by virtue of idiocy, bent down slightly and began to continue her exploration. As if she weren't working on a ticking time bomb of patience. Yui's, if nothing else.

" _Miaka_!" There. That would be the end of hers. "What do you think you're _doing_?"

The emperor finally spoke then. Or, rather...he _laughed_. It was a surprisingly deep and warm sound from someone so delicate (and yet huge) looking. "Remove them from their bonds."

She felt...lightheaded. That was probably relief. She also felt a little giddy. That was probably stress. That was perfectly okay. At least they weren't about to die.

She sighed, finally, and let darkness overtake her.

That was probably for the best. Being asleep meant she missed the meeting with the emperor in front of the whole court, she didn't need to deal with Miaka jumping into the emperor's space (again), with her best friend being suddenly declared priestess of a god she'd only just hours ago heard about, and she didn't need to hear the sounds of the men in the library closing the book and sealing them away in the strange, dangerous world they'd found themselves in.


	4. The Seven Constellations of Suzaku

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although if it weren't completely insane and she didn't know better than to think that kind of thing, she'd say he looked a little like a girl sitting at her desk and staring at her crush instead of the lesson plan. But that was pretty ridiculous from an emperor.

_Finally freed of their joint captivity, the young ladies were given proper accommodations to relax and rest in. For one, her rest was short-lived, as the emperor of the land called together a grand court assembly and proclaimed the young lady priestess of Suzaku. The fanfare and celebrations of the start of the young lady's path were as short-lived as her rest, however, as the world she came from began to bleed once more into her consciousness. The young lady's decision finally made, her path sealed behind her with the closing of the book outside.  
_

_For the other young lady of legend, however, many choices yet lingered ahead of her. Thus, her rest dragged on through the celebrations and through the closing of the door. While she slept still blissfully unaware of the hand of fate guiding their paths, even her sleep was not completely unaffected by the closing book._

_Alone in bed in the room she'd been given by the emperor, the young lady tossed and turned, caught in a dream of darkness and despair. The sounds of faint, childlike laughter echoed in the emptiness around her as she slept, and the image of her rescuer faded in and out of sight, as the words of the world outside and of the young lady's frightened shouts bled through the dreams._

"Miaka!" Yui cried out in a panic as she shot awake, looking around her without really seeing. " _Miaka_!"

"Whoa!" A familiar-unfamiliar voice broke through the haze of her lingering dream, and Yui slowly recognized she'd moved from outdoors to an extravagant and soft bed. A moment after, she processed the identity of the voice as her mysterious, ever-present rescuer.

"Wh...where am I...?"

"You passed out when the emperor said we could go free." The boy replied, shrugging. "So...anyway, you missed some things. But...now that Miaka is the Priestess of Suzaku, we all get to stay in the palace by association. Which isn't a bad trade-off for a night in a cell...or...uh. Wherever it was you were that night."

"The... _what_ of Suzaku?"

Another slight shrug. "Priestess. Don't ask me what that means, because I was there to hear it and I _still_ don't get it. Apparently she's supposed to be some kind of savior, though."

_Miaka...? A savior? Priestess? What...what kind of joke is this?_

He frowned, apparently reading her expression. "Look, I know it's hard to believe, but let's look on the bright side, okay? We're in the palace! And _not_ getting arrested! I think that part's pretty important."

"Where's Miaka?"

"Uh...asleep. She...kind of had some sort of breakdown in the throne room. Both of you have been out for _hours_ , actually. But since you went under first, she's...probably still out."

She'd mostly stopped listening after 'breakdown'. " _Breakdown_? Is she okay?"

"Oh, uh. Yeah. The doc says she's just fine." He nodded and gave a small wave of his hand, as if that were supposed to reassure her. "I think I heard that the emperor's with her right now. If she wakes up, he'll be the first one to know."

"Oh...okay..."

_Right, she befriended him somehow, didn't she? How did she even-_

"So. Are _you_ feeling alright, Yui?"

She blinked. It...sounded weird to hear him use her name. Had he used it before? She couldn't remember. It was kind of hazy now... "I...uh...I guess."

"Huh. Could've used a more definitive answer than that."

She couldn't help it, though, she found herself staring. She'd noted it the first time they'd met, she just...never really had a chance to say anything, and it wasn't like it was an appropriate time to think about it, anyway. But...he really was handsome. More than any boy back home, almost inhuman.

"What's your name?" It was an impulse, but considering everything they'd been through together, not inappropriate.

His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "You don't know?"

"...You never told me."

He hesitated a moment, apparently taken aback, before he gave an amused huff and shook his head. "Tamahome. It's Tamahome."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka frowned in the silence of the room, staring out at the palace grounds beyond her window. _I've lost track of how long it's been now..._

Yui was with her, but she still felt...a little isolated. Hotohori was, understandably, pretty busy with all his royal duties. When she'd woken up he'd been there, fussing over her and worrying pointlessly. _Maybe not so pointless, though...if I'm trapped in here forever, then there's plenty of reason to worry!_

Yui had suggested that she use one of her wishes to get home, but... _How long is that gonna take? I can't tell anyone where I am now, or tell them not to worry anymore. Keisuke must be worried sick, even mom must be. They've gotta have a full-fledged search going on...but...they'll never find me now._

_Eventually, they'll have to say that I'm..._

She shook her head quickly. They couldn't do that! Not while she was still alive! There wasn't even a body to make it happen! _Stop that! Stop thinking that! Quick, distract yourself!_

Somehow, her mind immediately latched onto Hotohori of all people. It wasn't like Yui and Tamahome weren't also around and probably less busy...but... _it's so late...I bet they're asleep. But if he's super busy then he's probably a late-nighter, too. Like a student cramming for tests! Which means he'd definitely want a break!_

She smiled cheerfully to herself, and gave a little nod. "I'll go drop in on him! That'll surprise him!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She should be asleep.

She should be _home_ , actually. Her parents...they'd be _so worried_ now. After all, she never left for more than a day, she never skipped school, she'd _never_ just vanish without a word. Her just...disappearing in the middle of the day like she had now? The things they had to think about what happened to her! It had been months now, and no one would be able to find anything...

_I wish I could just...do something! Just tell them I'm alright and just looking out for Miaka! I feel so guilty for disappearing like that...why can't we just send some little note out to them, even if we can't go through? Ugh. I wish I could talk to Miaka, too. Maybe that'd make this place feel less lonely...but...she's always so swarmed by all those people wanting to fawn over the priestess. There's never time anymore..._

_...Is there even a reason for me to be here...?_

"What are _you_ thinking about _?"_

Yui jumped and turned around. _Tamahome_! She wasn't surprised by him _existing_ in her room, he kind of...showed up a lot. Probably because after a few days he was just as bored in the palace as she was, and neither one of them had anyone else to spend time talking to. So...him being there wasn't a surprise. Just. Him being there at the _time_ that he happened to be there. That was a surprise. "T-Tama...nothing! I wasn't thinking anything! What are you doing here?"

He scoffed, and completely ignored her totally legitimate and pertinent question. "Yeah right. The entire _empire's_ gone ga-ga over Miaka since we got here. She's a huge celebrity now. I don't think you're taking this all in stride."

She shook her head quickly, but couldn't quite hide her smile. She couldn't decide if it was his concern, or the image of Miaka as a celebrity. "Thanks...but it's okay. I'm fine, really. Miaka needed the break, too."

He leaned in and bumped her shoulder with his. "You're a pretty bad liar for being so sneaky."

She frowned up at him. "Yeah, that's easy when you're imagining what you wanna see."

He shrugged slightly, studying the wall. "Even if you're happy for her, it's okay to be jealous that you don't get to spend as much time with her as you used to."

She tensed slightly, just for a moment, before she suppressed that. He caught it anyway, apparently, because it was only a moment later that those _really strong_ arms curled around her shoulders, and she found herself suddenly in a...really...awkward hug. Although...maybe it was only awkward for her because he was so warm, and she could feel his chest through his shirt like this, and he must have been using expensive soaps here...

"One free rental."

She blinked, but didn't move away to actually look at him properly. "Huh?"

"You get one free rental brother, okay? For now, anyway...just this one time I'll be your big brother."

 _Big brother_...?

She'd...she didn't know what to think or to say to that. Except by watching Miaka, she had no idea what having a big brother would be like. She'd always been an only child. She'd always been self-sufficient and responsible; relying on other people or looking for comfort from them...that wasn't what she did. She didn't even really know if she knew how to _try_...

But...

He felt...

 _Warm_.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a little weird to have to walk through layers and layers of guards just to see someone. It made her feel like she was walking somewhere because she was in trouble instead of because she wanted to. Even if all the guards seemed to nod or be friendly toward her as she passed...it was weird.

At least it wasn't so bad once she got to the room. Which...wasn't actually a room. It was like its own little apartment. At least she had been there before, when he was actually aware of her presence and able to point the way to his study. Otherwise she would have just stood there and awkwardly called out to him. Hopefully he really was in that room-she had been around most of his place, but then she kept finding new places or rooms in it...so she kind of wondered just how many there were that she hadn't yet seen.

He looked up from the desk he was sitting at when she rounded the corner to the room, apparently hearing her approach (even though she thought she was being kind of sneaky). "Miaka...! I am sorry. I haven't had time to see you..."

"No, no, not at all, Hoto...uh...your majesty!" Geez. If anything it got harder over time to remember to call him by his title instead of his name. How embarrassing! True, the priestess was pretty important in the country...but still...he was emperor. There were probably...rules...or something...

He smiled kindly, while waiting for her to...probably to explain herself. Which she didn't help by stuttering and beating around the bush, but...okay, actually she didn't have a good reason to come see him at all. Now that she was here, considering he still looked busy, she just needed to come up with a reason. 'how do I do the priestess thing' seemed like an important enough question to bother him with, even if there wasn't any pressing need to do it _now_.

Honestly, even though she listened, it was still kind of confusing. There was stuff about majesties and constellations and stuff that didn't make any sense as far as answering her initial question went. Was she supposed to become an astronomer or...?

Actually, it was the names 'Tamahome and Hotohori' that caught her attention most.

" _Tamahome and Hotohori_!"

"Correct." He sounded faintly amused, before shifting and tugging his collar down slightly to reveal a glowing red symbol on his neck. It looked like kanji, but it was glowing too brightly for her to tell what it was exactly. "I, Hotohori, and Tamahome, and the rest of the seven constellations must protect the Priestess of Suzaku, so she can obtain her magical powers."

_Wait...so...Tamahome's my guardian? Or...one of them..._

"Wait-but you're the emperor, right? How can you devote your time to protecting one person?"

His smile faded to a thoughtful frown. "The emperor is tasked with protecting the entire country. As Priestess of Suzaku, it is your task to save the country. Protecting you would also protect the country. But...also..." He turned his gaze back to watching her. That serious look, she knew that one. It was different from the serious expression he used on the court. It was...more...normal. Sincere didn't seem the right word, given he was always sincere. It was just...something that made her feel at home, instead of with an emperor.

...It didn't help with her tendency to call him by name when he did that.

"I the man would wish to protect you as is my divine destiny even if we the emperor could not."

She...her cheeks burned suddenly, and she turned away quickly. "S-So the others, they're just more protection from bad guys until I summon Suzaku?"

"Hm...? Oh, no. All seven must be gathered if Suzaku is to be summoned...and the priestess must be the one to gather them." He gestured down at the scroll (the one named after the book they were all inside). "It says so right here."

_Wait-gather all of them? Myself? How long will that take? I have exams coming up! I don't even know where they are! There's no time to waste!_

"Let's go find the third constellation!" She shouted in a sudden rush, turning to run out of the door already.

"Miaka! Wait! There's a clue on the scroll!" He was pointing at the scroll when she turned back around.

"Huh...?"

"It says 'Palace' and 'Fierce Strength'."

She blinked. "...What?"

"Well...they're two clues, so..." He shrugged slightly. "It may be that the third celestial warrior we seek is already in the palace."

_Well...that's convenient..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It wasn't convenient at all.

Hotohori sighed from where he sat, and she fanned herself with some mild irritation (it was hot! Of all the strange magical worlds she could have fallen into to get her wishes, why did it have to be somewhere hot?). Her old friend stared out across the courtroom with an unimpressed look that she usually reserved for looking over Miaka's test scores, and Tamahome stood in a pile of crumpled bodies that used to be the palace's best warriors.

Miaka huffed. "It's kinda worrying if this is the 'best' that we've got..."

That comment, at least, got a tiny smile from Yui for a moment, before she must have decided it was inappropriate and smothered it again.

Miaka couldn't tell if Hotohori heard her, but he did speak almost immediately. "Our purpose was _not_ to allow you to show off by beating on our soldiers, Tamahome..."

"Oh...uh..." Tamahome trailed off, looking over the groaning men and flashed Yui a sheepish smile. She still looked pretty unimpressed.

Miaka edged closer to her friend. "Hey, maybe we can provoke them into it or something?"

The blonde blinked in surprise. "What...?"

"You know! They're all noble warriors, right? And _I'm_ supposed to be the one to find them, so maybe...only if they fight _me_ they'll activate?"

"But...Tamahome and his majesty never fought you, did they?"

"Well...but maybe they're just freebies? I didn't go looking for them either!"

Yui frowned. "I don't think it works like that."

"It's fine!" She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "You know how fast I am, right? And if they're _truly_ gentleman they'll never try to hurt me anyway. This is definitely gonna work!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It didn't work.

Miaka succeeded in pissing them off, Yui gave her that, but that wasn't really...much of a plan. Sure _she_ had two supernatural bodyguards to protect her, but what would everyone else do if that group of angry guards became an angry mob with weapons?

...Even though Tamahome would probably just knock them all out again in a minute if they tried anything.

Still, none of them looked very noble. They just looked _angry_. Which...Yui didn't blame them for. Miaka was being childish and even Tamahome and the-...wait, the emperor just looked a little surprised. _Okay, so...Tamahome, at least sees she's being ridiculous. I can't read the emperor at all..._

Although if it weren't completely insane and she didn't know better than to think that kind of thing, she'd say he looked a little like a girl sitting at her desk and staring at her crush instead of the lesson plan. But that was pretty ridiculous from an emperor. Those two were definitely some kind of friends, but...

The men started shouting then, charging, and Miaka shouted back at her. "Hey, none of them have symbols! But they're all getting angry anyway!"

"Well _yeah_! Of course they're angry-" She was about to start lecturing Miaka (as she saw Tamahome standing back up and getting ready to deal with the crowd before they could get to Miaka. Lucky her, having two bodyguards...) when the men started _throwing things at her_.

That wouldn't have been so bad, except one of the heavy vases they flung smashed into a pillar supporting the gazebo-like structure Miaka was standing under. The roof on that thing looked _really heavy_ , and as it turned out it must have been, because as soon as that pillar was compromised, the whole thing just...folded.

She screamed, though she couldn't remember what she said (maybe just 'Miaka'), and she heard the Emperor shouting in an unusually high voice. " _Miaka!_ _Get out of there!_ "

It was only moments between that and when the building itself collapsed. Too quickly for Miaka to move, too quickly...maybe too quickly for anything. Yui spotted a blur though, just barely, before everything crashed into a huge cloud of smoke and debris.

" _Miaka_!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"That's- _Eeek_!" Her mother screamed suddenly.

"Wha- _what_?" Morin jumped and spun around, searching for the source of her mother's fright.

"Your-your _skirt_!"

The brunette blinked, and looked down at her school uniform, which she had yet to change out of. To her confusion, there was a large blood stain growing on her skirt. "A- _ACK_!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka winced in pain. _Okay...that...hurts. But at least I'm still alive. Wait-why am I..._?

Hesitantly, worried about dust or other things falling in her eyes, she peeked an eye open. And then gave a startled gasp harsh enough that she choked on the dust floating around her. "Tamahome!" He'd somehow, in a moment she hadn't even seen, managed to get between her and a large column from the thing she was standing under. Which meant that the only reason she wasn't currently crushed was because he was _really good_ at push-ups.

But...

"Wh-what are you doing? Stop it! You'll be-"

"Forget it! It's not like I'm gonna skip out on a _duty!_ " He growled, cutting into her words. And...then he winced, as the rubble shifted and threatened to shove him closer to the ground where they'd both be crushed. "B...besides, idiot. It's kind of too late to undo it now, huh?"

She frowned and looked away from him. "It's not your duty to get killed..."

He scoffed, which was kind of surprising considering how little air he must have been getting through the weight on his back and all the dust in the air. "Yeah... _right_. It's not like Yui wouldn't...kill me if I let you die anyway."

She blinked in surprise at that. _Yui-she's...she's okay, right?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The emperor moved with surprising speed for a ruler, leaping out of his chair and rushing over to the ruins, immediately grabbing bits of debris and throwing it. "We must clear this rubble! _Now_!"

Someone protested, one of the counselors, probably, but she didn't pay it any more mind than he probably did, as she was right behind him, running across the courtyard to the rubble and relying entirely on adrenaline and the _need_ to do it to take away parts of the debris in time.

If they could do it without causing things to fall on Miaka (and Tamahome, somehow Tamahome had gotten there-it was the blur, she was sure) while they did it, then...

"Miaka... _hang on_..."

Hotohori still shouted desperate commands, and other people as well, everyone was in a panic, but only the two of them even tried to move the pile of crushing stone and wood. There was no way...she knew...there wasn't any way they'd get to Miaka and Tamahome in time...

" _Come on...!_ "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I-...I can't..." He was only an inch from her now, arms shaking, as the column slowly crushed lower. No matter how strong he was, or how brightly that red symbol on his forehead would glow, there was no way...

They only had a few minutes left, and then she'd be crushed and Tamahome, too...

 _This isn't...this isn't how it's supposed to go_!

"G...go on! Get out of here! Please!" Tears stuck dust to her cheeks as her vision blurred worse than it already was, she could barely even make out his expression even as close as he was.

"D... _Does it look like I can get out_?"

He had a point...but...he was so strong, he was independent and he had his own goals, and if Yui was going to lose her then Yui shouldn't be all alone in the world! "B...but you have to! Someone has to look out for Yui! You have to! _You have to go! You have to get out somehow!"_

"I... _can't_! _Damn it_!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_It's hopeless._

She knew it. Her hands were cut and bruised, fingers probably sprained already, the emperor's sleeves were ruined and his hands and wrists cut and scratched deeply from the sharp bits of tile and stone they kept moving, and the rubble...if it changed at all, it was only to shift ominously and compact.

They'd never make it.

She knew it.

It was...too...

A smooth voice cut through the shouts, startlingly close. "Allow me to handle this."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka flinched as the medic wrapped the bandage tightly around her thigh. She hadn't even really noticed that it was cut at the time, and she definitely didn't realize it was that bad. Yui knelt next to Tamahome, taking the bandages from the medics whenever she could so she could help bandage him. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but...it was almost worth the trouble just to see how relieved and happy Yui looked.

"I am glad to see you're not harmed." Hotohori knelt next to Miaka, apparently relieved enough to ignore the protests of the counselors at the action. He brushed her hair from her face to inspect a bruise, and gave a warm, relieved smile.

So close...

She flushed and glanced away quickly. _He's just so pretty_...

"Although...I wish I could say you were unhurt as well..."

"Th-there's nothing to be sad about, really! It was just an accident!" She nodded quickly.

"Still..." He straightened and turned to Tamahome. "You protected the priestess well, Tamahome. Better than we could have."

"Wh-no he didn't!" She stood as well then, frowning. "He could have gotten _killed_! If one of the warriors were dead, then where would we be, huh?"

Tamahome rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. You're welcome too, priestess."

"But...thanks to this woman you both were rescued." Hotohori nodded and indicated that strange young woman who'd popped up over the hole in the debris when the column had suddenly vanished. Miaka hadn't thought about it much at the time, but...she must have been involved if she were right there, right?

The woman answered the question herself by identifying herself as 'Nuriko', and tugging down her fancy dress just enough to show a glowing symbol on her collar bone.

_Ah! That's how! A constellation!_

"So it's a woman after all!" Miaka cried happily. She would have walked to the girl, but the pain in her thigh was ominous enough to prevent her from trying. Instead, she tried to cover that up by subtly hooking an arm around Hotohori's for support before she reached a hand out. It was a foreign country after all, handshakes seemed right. "Thank you so much for saving me! I'm Miaka Yuuki!"

The woman stared at her for just a moment, and then 'hmphed', swooping over to where Tamahome sat. "Don't get me wrong, the only person I was interested in saving was _him_!" She grabbed Tamahome's chin then and kissed him suddenly.

_...Eh?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yui, who'd mostly kept her distance from Miaka until the overwhelming presence of the emperor backed off (and kept herself busy making sure Tamahome was okay), blinked and stared at Tamahome for a few moments. Many things ran through her head at once, even if she was shocked and quiet on the outside.

...It didn't even occur to her until then that maybe Tamahome had someone at home. Thinking about it, she never did ask that kind of thing. They talked about a lot of things, her home, the world...but his home? It just never came up. Likewise, she never really thought about what he did between gambling and what things they did together.

But...thinking about it, all he ever seemed interested in out of her was friendship or money. That...actually explained why he was always so tepid toward her and why, despite boredom and inertia, he never really minded being uprooted from his life and stuck in the palace. If he were romancing a pretty palace girl, no wonder he never got around to talking about himself with Yui. Why should he, if he had someone else?

Of course he was loyal to Miaka as well, she was his divinely appointed priestess or mistress or whatever.

But really...he was...

She closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe deep, measured breaths. It was...it was okay. She only knew him for a few months, it'd only been a little bit of time she'd thought about...anything. Her chest felt tight, suddenly, and so did her throat.

_It's...my fault. It's just my fault for thinking-_

She stood, eyes burning. _I won't...let him see me cry!_

"Yui!" Tamahome yelled, as she broke into a run.

_I...I just want to go home!_


	5. Dangerous Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She kept herself busy with studying. It was only fair after all, she couldn't summon Suzaku like Miaka to get them home, and she couldn't help Miaka in her grueling quest to befriend the monstrous warrior, either. Maximizing the time she had to study was the best she could do for the situation.
> 
> And when her mind was full of equations even when she would drift off at her desk, then it couldn't be full of Tamahome, the talks they didn't have any longer, or what Nuriko was doing with him right then.

Morin sighed in frustration, it made no sense at all. One moment the stain was there, stubbornly resisting all of her attempts to clean it, not budging even a little bit, and the next it was just...gone! It didn't even give in to her soap and dedication either, it just...vanished.

She didn't believe in weird things at all, especially nothing that weird! But she really didn't know what else she could say or how to explain it. It looked and felt real, and other people saw it, and it was there all day! Even though she wasn't injured or anything and wasn't even sure where it had come from, it was definitely real! And it definitely didn't wash out the way things were supposed to wash out.

She fell back into her bed with a huff and frowned up at the ceiling.

Maybe it was best to just ignore it and forget it happened at all, now that it was over. It would be less frustrating that way at least...

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_As the day drew long, the two ladies recovered from the hectic events of the morning. The first wounded lady tended to her precious uniform, working by hand to clean it of the remnants of the collapsed structure, and of the blood that stained its skirts. The second young lady retreated to her chambers to tend to her wounded heart, and to consider the events of the day. Many choices lingered ahead of the young lady, though they were yet unknown to her._

_As the young lady rested in her room, the warrior which she had spent much time with arrived as usual._

Yui jumped in surprise, startled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice, and turned around. Tamahome stood in the doorway as he often did, an uncharacteristically solemn expression on his face. Her mouth opened to speak before her mind could come up with a proper response, and so she simply stood there gaping at him for a moment.

A moment more would have been enough to come up with something, but Tamahome spoke again before that time passed, pushing away from the door and making his way into the room. "You should know, about today...that wasn't...Nuriko isn't..."

_Then...they aren't together...? But then why would she have acted that way...?_

_Could it be possible the woman is simply an admirer? She might have heard of Tamahome from the rumors and become infatuated. Of course...someone so beautiful and powerful is probably used to getting what she wants. But...if Tamahome came here...if he's insisting they aren't, then..._

Tamahome's expression turned to one of concern. "Yui, why are you crying? I meant..."

"No..." She shook her head and quickly scrubbed away her unwelcome tears. "I guess that means...I'm just happy."

Color spread across his cheeks, and he gave a nervous laugh. "It's just confusing when you do it like that, you know? Geez."

She laughed, an almost surprising sound for her to hear from herself after such a long day. "It's not like I just chose to do it!"

He reached over and ruffled her hair, giving her a lopsided smile. "Ah, I guess I should be happy you're not laying into me about doing my job the way Miaka did."

She drew in a breath of realization and summoned a stern frown. Now that he mentioned it, she probably should say something about that, even if it was just a token scolding...

A piece of cloth whipped into the room and wrapped around his ankles, yanking him onto his face.

" _There_ you are, Tama-baby!" Nuriko cried, walking in. Her eyes were for Tamahome alone. She didn't even try to address Yui, staring down at Tamahome instead. Without another word, she dragged him out of the room, heedless of his screams of complaint.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka sighed as she sat down next to her friend, it had been a month, and Nuriko still snubbed her...and she really did try! Honest. She hadn't struggled so hard to make a new friend since she first went to school! Yet, despite her best efforts, Nuriko remained determined to ignore she existed! It was really frustrating!

"That Nuriko is crazy..." Yui sighed, sipping at the tea they'd been provided. The look of exasperated exhaustion on her face made it seem like _she'd_ been the one struggling to get the new warrior to like her. But...that wasn't it at all, was it?

Miaka gave her friend a soft, sympathetic smile.

_She really does like Tamahome...Even though Nuriko likes him too, it must be hard..._

"I have an idea!" It didn't matter if she failed to keep Yui updated on the thought process that led to the idea, just that it was a great one.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was an absolutely stupid idea. Granted, Yui didn't have a better one that didn't involve useless yet satisfying violence...but 'become Nuriko's hand maiden' wasn't going to do anything of use even in a world like this one, ripped out of the pages of a fantasy manga.

"Yui, I knew I could come to you with this!"

"Tamahome!" Yui smiled, looking up from the book she'd been failing to read and trying to ignore the way her heart sped up at those words. "What do you want?"

"Do you know where I can hide?"

Yui sighed, and shook her head. As much fuss as he put up...he never really spent any time visiting anymore. Every time she saw him, it was always about that woman. "She'd just come here first." She meant to leave it at that...but against her best efforts she still muttered the part of the statement she'd meant only to think. "...But if you really wanted away, you would do more than pretend to hide..."

"Eh?" He must have heard her, because he leaned in and frowned at her, skeptical. "Hey, don't be silly. First, it hurts that you think I'm the kind of guy who knows how to hide well on my own." like he wasn't something suspiciously close to a con man before Miaka got him a room in the palace. "Second, I'm just trying to be nice 'cause she's a constellation and a woman. Anyway, she's not my style."

"Who is?" She didn't mean to say that either. She really needed to get a grip on herself: she was becoming as impulsive as Miaka.

He blinked at her in confusion instead of answering her.

"What...is your style?" Now that she said it, she couldn't just pretend she hadn't. That would be even more embarrassing.

"I...uh..." He stuttered and mumbled incoherently, face turning red. Nuriko leaped out of nowhere, and grabbed him by the neck, cutting the conversation severely short.

"Tama-baby! There you are!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"She's really stubborn!" Miaka huffed, though it was a delicate maneuver to make through the food she was eating.

Yui scoffed lightly and quirked a small smile. Which was good, Yui needed to smile more. She had been under too much stress since they had both arrived in the world. Miaka didn't blame her, though. As much as she was freaking out about missing cram school, Yui was always better at studying, and never absent. For Yui, this must have been even worse.

And then there was Tamahome and Nuriko...

"But..." Miaka gulped down the last of the food that her friend had smuggled in. Nuriko's ignoring of her had gotten progressively worse over the month: today she'd withheld food for anyone who didn't clean her entire quarters to spotless perfection...and then kept making more messes!

Miaka had nearly given in to starvation and hopelessness when her best friend arrived with food while the warrior was away. "Maybe I can get through to her if I really try. After all...she seemed so reasonable when we met."

Yui shook her head, still skeptical. "At least your brain is working like normal now that you've had food..." She sighed. "Too bad you're still an idiot."

"Hey, come on! She saved me, right? She can't be all bad!"

"Yeah...just make sure you haven't got crumbs left on your face from the food she banned you from eating."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She forgave Yui her cynical view on the situation, considering that she'd had an even worse time with Nuriko. After all...she really liked Tamahome, so...competing with Nuriko had to make it worse. But...as the priestess, she had a duty (she was sure) to befriend the celestial warriors so that she could summon the bird god thing and make it back home. That's what was important!

It was late enough that there weren't really any people wandering around the palace grounds other than herself and the palace guards. In the distance, though, she could just make out the sound of Hotohori's voice. She couldn't make out any words, but that was definitely his voice!

She hesitated a moment, glancing between Nuriko's gifted quarters (she apparently lived elsewhere in the palace until her identity was revealed: Miaka had ended up being one of the people who had to help move her things) and Hotohori's little...complex, which was definitely where his voice was coming from.

...It was kind of a detour, but...she didn't usually hear him up and about at this time of night. It was worth it if she only went by for a minute!

On a whim, once she was close enough, she dropped to her knees behind a row of shrubbery and low-crawled her way to where he stood. From the sound of it, the advisers were once again bothering him about things that weren't really important. She could tell from the tone of his words - the words themselves were only snippets, and she couldn't guess which were important without context...and experience. The important part was, it didn't sound like his attention was on what they were saying, so she wasn't interrupting.

After determining that, she popped up from her hiding place without warning, making a 'boo' sound. The advisers shrieked and scrambled away from where she appeared. Hotohori simply blinked down at her, as if he'd known she were there the whole time.

She should have been surprised, given how well she sneaked up on them, but somehow she just expected Hotohori to react like that. It was pretty hard to envision Hotohori being frightened or startled in that way, anyway.

She didn't actually have a reason to talk to him and interrupt the advisers, she was just giving him a...break. She probably shouldn't say exactly that in front of them, though. For a moment she considered climbing up onto the dais next to him (as she had before) but ultimately discarded that thought. Today she was in her uniform, so she would be showing off a bit too much if she did that.

"You're up so late!" Yes, deflection!

His smile was amused, almost knowing. "You as well."

"Well-" Maybe a little... "I was just going to see Nuriko!"

He frowned slightly, as if he were about to question why she would be out doing that in the middle of the night. She hoped he wouldn't, because when she thought about it, the answer just sounded silly. Fortunately, he didn't. Instead, his expression turned to one of mild concern.

"Has she continued to act inappropriately toward you? If you wish, I could-"

She lifted her hands quickly and shook her head. "No, no! I want to win her over on my own. I wouldn't be a very good priestess if I couldn't befriend my own protectors, right?"

He hesitated a moment, but then gave a small nod and a smile. "Very well then. I am certain that you will succeed in forging a friendship with her."

It wasn't like she'd gone looking for a pat on the back or anything...but his vote of confidence was still nice, and earned a bright and impulsive smile before she could catch herself. "...Right! That's what the priestess is for, right?"

She didn't wait for his response before she zoomed away, though. Now that she had the boost of confidence, she was sure it would work!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sleep was scarce and hard to come by. The beds were too soft, the blankets too smooth, the perfume of the rooms too heavy. She could never really stop her mind from constantly running over things, thoughts and possibilities and regrets and worries...

Studying was something she could do instead, at least. Sometimes she wrote up mock tests and worksheets to prepare for catch up at school when they got back, sometimes she studied the history and cultures of this world just to have new things to process and learn that didn't lead back to thinking of home.

Usually, when Tamahome caught her awake in the wee hours of dawn, he'd seize her work and march her into bed with the strictness she had witnessed of Keisuke, or a few older brothers that helped raise their younger siblings when their parents were stuck at work all day. It was just familiar enough that, while he was there, idly talking of things that weren't important but which she listened to anyway, she could fall asleep without even realizing it.

And then, only a few times, she'd woken up with him sleeping somewhere nearby...or the times that he had pulled her into a hug while they spoke, and she'd fallen asleep feeling his warmth, listening to his heartbeat and breathing the smell of the soaps he'd become attached to using.

He hadn't been around almost at all since the warrior Nuriko had appeared. Even when he did show up, it wasn't for long. She would always collect him, and no matter what he said...he never tried hard to come back.

She kept herself busy with studying. It was only fair after all, she couldn't summon Suzaku like Miaka to get them home, and she couldn't help Miaka in her grueling quest to befriend the monstrous warrior, either. Maximizing the time she had to study was the best she could do for the situation.

And when her mind was full of equations even when she would drift off at her desk, then it couldn't be full of Tamahome, the talks they didn't have any longer, or what Nuriko was doing with him right then.

She was just nodding off over a pile of scrolls, when something ice-cold and terrible suddenly flashed through her mind. " _Miaka!_ "

She didn't even really think about what she was doing, mind too addled by sleep and whatever that moment had been-a scream, like Miaka's, but somewhere far away-she just leaped out of her chair and ran out of her room, calling after her friend with a sudden and inexplicable fear.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He had nearly been to sleep. The day had been a long one, and his loyal and concerned counselors had taken up much of it with their usual pressuring for heirs and marriage. It was never anything he was unused to, nor what he could not handle or understand...simply tiring. He understood their concerns and the weight of the issues...but there was only one person who held any interest for him.

Suggestions of anyone else, for politics or for convenience, were a waste of time. He had no interest in finding an empress who cared only for the position her children would one day hold. He had no interest in anyone except...

He shook his head slightly, as he settled into bed. It was late already, and there was much to do tomorrow. He would have to settle his thoughts and rest. Even Miaka, who had been out and about so late, would have been asleep by now.

And cold chill passed through him a moment after his thought, and a sense of dread lanced through his mind.

_Miaka...?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He'd passed out not long after Nuriko's duties had forced her to release him for the night. This whole 'weather her fascination until she lost interest' thing was starting to wear thin. She was just incorrigible, and it was getting exhausting. When he'd been thinking he was bored, this was not the kind of thing he had wanted to spend his time with.

It was draining.

"- _ka_!" Yui's voice snapped through his dreams, jolting him awake. Her voice was raw, and carried an edge of desperation that was almost panic. "Miaka!"

Still groggy, he jumped out of bed and ran outside toward the sound of her voice. "Yui! What's going on?"

"Tamahome!" Her eyes were wide and red-rimmed when she turned toward him, and darkness half-circles etched underneath them. Had she also been sleeping and then woken by something he hadn't? "Miaka's in trouble! I know it!"

"Where is she?"

She shook her head quickly, and the desperation began to creep back into her voice. "I don't know! Help me find her!"

He struggled to suppress a sigh of frustration. _In the palace? At this time of night? What is up with this Miaka? Every time I turn around she's trying to kill herself again! I should have known being a Celestial Warrior to a girl as crazy as she is would be troublesome..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Okay, the night was chilly before, but now...she was _freezing._ And that was totally because _her uniform was soaked._

She probably would have been more concerned about that, or trying to hunt down whatever joker thought it was funny to dump water onto an innocent student minding her own business walking down the street...but when she'd suddenly gotten soaked in freezing water, it wasn't the only thing that happened.

She swallowed nervously just thinking back on the event. It still didn't feel like there was any reason at all for her inability to breathe before. It didn't make any sense at all...the water, the blood, that sudden inability to draw a full breath...!

What was happening?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_In their search for the missing Young Lady, the Lady and the warrior scoured the palace grounds, calling out for their mutual friend. Before they could find her, however, the sound of the third Celestial Warrior reached their ears, speaking airily about their plan to send the Lady of Legend to her doom in the cold pond outside the royal gardens. Fueled by a sudden and intense passion and anger, the two burst in on the third warrior, intent on finding answers and explanations._

_Meanwhile, the Young Lady herself had fallen for the plan exactly as Nuriko had helped, slipping in the wet mud at the edge of the water and sinking to the deepest point, tangled up in the thick plant-life dwelling underneath its waters. Despite the danger, however, the Young Lady refused to give in, or to surrender her struggle, and drew on the strength granted to her by the concern of her close bonds to break free before she would drown._

_While making her way back to confront Nuriko on the matter, the Young Lady overheard her companion and Tamahome already in a heated argument with Nuriko over the motivations that lead to the Young Lady's near drowning. Hearing the truth, her original intentions were briefly forgotten, as the Young Lady entered the room with the others._

"So...you're in love with Hotohori..." Her own voice sounded quiet and almost inaudible to herself, but everyone in the room immediately turned toward her as if she'd shouted it. But...it made sense, what Nuriko said, it was no wonder she found it so hard to befriend the woman. Jealousy, even if it wasn't based on anything, could be hard.

Yui looked ragged. She really must have worried! Had Yui come to see her and she was missing? Or...did she really sense trouble? They were best friends, after all, so...when one was in danger, the other one would know, right?

She felt a little dizzy, but then again, she had almost drowned. That was probably normal. She wouldn't know that for sure, since she'd never drowned or almost drowned before, but it was the best answer to why, and she needed to focus on Nuriko and Nuriko's feelings for Hotohori.

Jealousy was no excuse for acting as cruelly as she had to Yui, though. After all, Yui hadn't done anything to her. If it were just Miaka, she'd understand, but...it wasn't right for her to treat an innocent bystander that way! Not...not that she and Hotohori were...anything but innocent.

They were friends. That was all. It wasn't like he would be interested in someone like her when there were so many beautiful women around. And ones who were in love with him, too! Like Nuriko. Really...she couldn't blame Nuriko for feeling hurt and jealous over that. She did blame Nuriko for messing with Yui, but just for the jealousy...

She pocketed the shiny stone that she'd meant to give Nuriko as a peace offering and forced herself to give the woman a warm smile. It didn't feel very warm, though. It felt a little strained, even if it shouldn't. Hopefully Nuriko wouldn't notice that.

"...If you're in love with him, then, I can go and talk to him!"

Yui spoke before Nuriko could. "Miaka...you-"

"It's okay!" She forced bright cheer into her voice and waved off her friend's concern. "There's nothing going on between us, you know!"

After all, she was just a priestess from another world. The sort of people emperors like him would marry were people like Nuriko, not her. Pretending otherwise...wouldn't be fair. As a priestess, what was important was to look out for the interests of her warriors first.

Right?

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She finally managed to find an hour so late that he'd gone to bed. She'd never succeeded at that before, but she supposed by this time of night she was usually asleep, too. Barging in on his room at this time of night...okay, maybe it hadn't been the smartest decision she'd ever made. After all, she probably could have told him this kind of thing any time she wanted to, not just in the middle of the night right after she'd finished talking to Nuriko, barely long enough to towel herself dry and look convincingly like she'd come from a bath, instead of a ...dip.

She just...felt like it _had_ to be now. Once she convinced herself to do it, she _needed_ to rush in all at once and do it.

If she waited...maybe she wouldn't be able to do it at all. And, if she wanted to summon Suzaku, then she needed to do what she had to, to befriend her warriors.

She'd immediately regretted waking him up as soon as she'd been ushered into his room. He looked _worn_ , like he'd really been exhausted when he'd laid down, and he couldn't have had very long asleep before she came in to wake him up. That pang of guilt and regret just made what she had to say that much more difficult.

She stumbled over her words a few times, but he made no attempt to interrupt her. Gradually, as she spoke, his dark eyes turned from her to...to...away. Well, it wasn't like she expected his full and undivided attention always, after all, he was still clearly listening. He wasn't doing anything except sitting on his bed and listening.

But he didn't look at her. By the time she finished her pitch (she couldn't quite bring herself to name Nuriko. She tried, willed herself to do it, but in the end she settled on vague references to 'people' and 'pretty women'), he watched some design on his wall instead, and sounded...disinterested when he answered. For some reason, it hurt a little bit to hear that tone from him, or to see him so wholly disinterested in what she had to say.

But then, she had woken him up in the middle of the night, as if there was something really important to say, and here she'd not even managed to spit out what she'd planned to. Not exactly, anyway.

Eventually, she fell silent and stared down at her feet. It felt...pretty awkward standing in the middle of a lavish and beautiful bedroom, in front of someone who looked so regal and poised _even half awake and sitting in bed,_ wearing a purple robe with wet hair.

He was the one who spoke next, voice soft and quiet, but filling the silent room. "You speak of love with such ease and fervor."

...Was it easy? She glanced up at him in surprise, and found herself staring directly into his gaze once more. There was something shining in those eyes of his that she couldn't identify. She found herself trapped by them all the same, stuck staring back at him and, momentarily, incapable of breathing.

"Does that mean...there's a man you're in love with?"

She stuttered something unrecognizable to herself. Even though the question broke whatever it was that had held her breath for a moment or two, she still couldn't seem to form the words she needed to. Her cheeks rapidly burned hot, and...

 _C-Come on, snap out of it, self! There's nothing to be embarrassed about!_ After all, she'd never _had_ a boyfriend before. No one had ever even shown any interest in her, besides those guys who were just faking it that Tamahome helped her with. She definitely...didn't have anyone that she loved. Not the way he meant.

She shook her head quickly, and moved to sit down next to him, eager to change the subject and to break away from his gaze. _She_ wasn't the subject of discussion! After all, tonight wasn't about _her_ feelings. It was about Nuriko's, and Yui's as well. And...Hotohori's.

She really just...

The things she wanted...weren't as important as everyone else. No matter what, her feelings had to match her warriors (or something...). And Nuriko, she had cared about Hotohori for a lot longer than she had even known the man! What kind of a person tried to get in the way of that kind of thing, anyway?

Besides, if Nuriko got what she wanted, then she'd leave Tamahome alone, and Yui wouldn't have to be so unhappy anymore. And then...

Then _everyone_ would be happy.

_As long as it means that Yui would be happy..._

Slim fingers brushed her cheek, and she startled suddenly, realizing that...not only had she gone and sat down right next to him on his bed, but that he'd actually leaned in closer to her.

 _His face is_...

"Since you're so interested, there's something I've never told you before..." He spoke in a voice even softer than before, so quiet now if he weren't so close she doubted that she'd understand his words. And yet, it made goosebumps raise on her skin, like listening to music really loud to stay awake. "There's already someone...that I've loved since before I can remember."

For a moment, something inside her clenched, twisted painfully, and she didn't know what to say.

 _Someone_...

There was someone that he loved?

Before she could make any attempt to respond, however, the room spun. She wasn't quite sure what happened, or even how: it was all too quick, too sudden, and she felt too...breathless and confused and shocked to start with to track his movements.

Eventually, though, she realized that she was lying back on the bed, and he was leaning over her, loosely pinning her there, face hovering closer to her than it had ever been, curtains of dark silk hair falling on either side of their faces and blocking from her vision everything that wasn't him.

"Someone...that I've cherished since time began."

As she stared up into his chestnut eyes, she felt a lump grow in her throat. She felt...dizzy. Light.

_Confused._


	6. Hidden Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...We're getting arrested again tonight, aren't we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in this chapter those re-reading the fanfic will notice the biggest change so far from the original version. Really, this change is at least tied with my disapproval of my original writing style and retreading of canon ground if not even above it for why I decided to do the rewrite before continuing on. It's an important change, and I feel it's much more IC than the original way the fic had it go down.

_"It's absolutely not going to happen!_ "

Tamahome winced, and plugged one ear with his knuckle. She didn't really think that was necessary: maybe she shouted a bit, but it wasn't _that_ loud. And even if it was, he deserved it. Also, he didn't look particularly sorry.

"I don't think you're thinking this through enough." Then again, maybe she should have shouted louder, because he clearly didn't get it.

She stared at him in confusion for a moment or two. Ordinarily, he wasn't one she'd consider...dumb. But then...would she? Ever since Nuriko had appeared, everything about him seemed to change. Maybe everything else she thought about him had been just as wrong as those things. "Why wouldn't I trust Miaka? She's been my best friend since we were kids. I don't need to spy on her to know what she's going to do!"

"See, that's where you're not thinking it through." He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway to her room as if he were completely unaware of her answering glare. "We're not going there to spy on _Miaka._ We're going there to keep an eye on _Nuriko_."

"...What?"

He quirked an eyebrow and gave her an expectant look. "Once we left...just where do you think that woman is going to go? After all, the love rival she tried to drown just went to the emperor's _bedroom_ in the middle of the night. If it were you, where would you be right now?"

_...We're getting arrested again tonight, aren't we?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It's not as if she'd read a whole lot of romance stories back home, because she never had time to read that much. But she's still pretty sure that fainting at this particular moment would have been the worst decision. Though...the bed was so unbelievably comfortable (and she thought _hers_ was outrageous!) she could probably just pretend she fell asleep because of the late hour, instead.

Her heart was beating way too hard to actually fall asleep any time soon.

A part of it was the tug of panic: the last time someone had been over her hovering so closely had been those men that pretended to like her until they got her alone. But...Hotohori wasn't like those. She'd never need to be rescued from him. Regardless of...what the situation happened to be right then. Much more of what had her heart racing had nothing to do with that memory.

A strand of his hair fell off of his shoulder and settled over a portion of hers that her robe had slipped and exposed, and a burst of goosebumps splashed across her skin from the point of impact. It was so profound, she expected him to notice, to glance down at it or...something. He didn't do anything of the sort, though. Instead, his gaze remained steady on her.

He was speaking, she knew he was. She was also pretty sure she understood it, but none of that actually explained why he was hovering so close. He'd heard stories about the Priestess of Suzaku as a child?

Belatedly, as more of his hair fell in a shimmering curtain around them and cut off her view of the room, a memory flashed through her mind. _That_ was right...those men weren't the last ones to be so close to her. When the platform had collapsed on her, Tamahome had also...

Slim fingers touched her cheek, so lightly that if not for their warmth she would have almost been fooled into thinking it was simply the brush of his soft hair. "There is no one else who holds any interest for me."

Her breath caught, and her eyes widened. _He...he can't be..._

"Ho...tohori..."

No, it couldn't be that. He definitely _couldn't_ mean that, because...they were only friends, he'd never thought of her anything like that! Why would he think of her like that? She was just...he knew Yui, too! And Nuriko! And all the other beautiful, sophisticated, amazing women around the palace who were interested in him (well...Yui wasn't...probably...but the other ones were!), and she was just...Miaka. Clumsy and messy, and she ate too much, and she couldn't wear one of those fancy dresses Nuriko wore so easily to save her life. (She'd tried to help Nuriko put them on sometimes, and it always ended in her being kicked out of the room)

So that was...

She was only misunderstanding him. After all, she'd come here for Yui and Nuriko's love lives, not for hers! She didn't have one!

His lips hovered so close to hers now that she could feel his breath scatter across her skin as he spoke in a voice as soft and light as his touch. "Miaka...I want to share...everything with you."

Despite her staunch reasoning and strong arguments about why it couldn't possibly be happening, that he definitely couldn't mean it that way- and _hey_ why didn't he ask _her_ opinion on the matter? - she found her eyes slipping closed all the same. She'd never been kissed before. If it was him...it must feel delicate...gentle like the way he always acted around her. Or...did it feel strong? Warm-no, _hot_ , the way Hong Nan was, and the god that he served seemed to be? That must be...

For just a moment, she could feel it: lips softer than the sheets beneath the back of her hands, gentle and warm, falling across her own the same way his stray locks of hair tickled her skin as he moved...

And then he was gone.

For a moment, she stayed there, eyes shut (when did she close her eyes all the way...?), stunned and confused. How did he disappear all at once? Like he'd never been there in the first place, and she'd simply imagined him?

A moment later, she felt the weight of him shift off the bed completely, and she blinked up at the well-embroidered silk above her head which enclosed the royal bed. That...admittedly...didn't answer a damn thing about where he went and why.

In a flash, his hand slashed upward into an ornate looking wall carving.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Admittedly,_ this was actually the worst idea, and Yui should have stopped him. Now that he was here, he could count off more reasons than he had fingers and hands as to why this had been a terrible idea, and it was all Yui's fault that they were now playing ninja in the emperor's quarters.

_Sure_ , he'd been totally right about Nuriko's plans. But what did that have to do with them? Eh? If that crazed lady got herself locked up leaping in on the priestess and the emperor playing find the feather, or whatever, that just meant she'd go and get locked up somewhere and _be no one's problem ever again_! (If they could keep someone with as monstrous strength as her in a cell, anyway. But one step at a time)

Oh, no, but then Yui had to go and fall for his horrible, downright crazy reasoning, and now they were here.

Good Suzaku, he'd begun to become infected with Miaka's crazy self-destructiveness. That's what was going on,wasn't it? First he'd gone and jumped in the way of that pillar and almost crushed himself to death, and now he was going to get in the way of the Emperor getting alone time with his favored priestess.

He shuddered to himself in the darkness. If Nuriko was his punishment from...okay, maybe not from Suzaku, since that was his duty, but from _something_ for his last stunt, he should probably be really afraid of what came after this. Other than a palace prison, that was. _He couldn't be a prisoner, he had a family to provide for_.

"...We should go."

Yui's expression wasn't the most pleasant he'd ever seen on her. It was, quite possibly, worse than the one she'd given him a little while ago when they were both safe and not about to die and before his crazy had infected her. " _You're_ the one who said we should be here."

"Yeah, well I've regained my wits." He hissed back at her, struggling to emphasize his point without speaking over the dull roar in the other room of Miaka's voice. "Do you know what's gonna happen if we interrupt those two in there?"

She arched an eyebrow at him. "They're not doing anything to _interrupt_ , okay? Anyway, we're here to _keep_ them from being interrupted."

Nuriko, who'd been entirely focused on trying to listen through the thin wall dividing the rooms of the emperor's personal quarters, threw them both a glower. "I'm not doing _anything_ , I'm just making sure she follows through on her promise!"

He sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms. He was about to point out the futility of that, given the emperor's _obvious (and really weird)_ fixation on the priestess, but an angry growl from Nuriko interrupted him. For a moment, he felt a chill of dread at the thought that somehow he'd enticed the freakishly strong woman to attack him.

And then he realized it was just perfectly normal dread he felt.

Nuriko was angry at Miaka, not him.

Oh, _yeah_. He really _had_ picked up Miaka's crazy.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She...actually couldn't figure out what was going on any better by watching Hotohori (standing in a curious sideways fashion, as she hadn't gathered the strength to sit back up again yet) slash at his own wall than if she'd continued trying to count the golden threads in the canopy.

At least once the poor, innocent picture of Suzaku crumbled away into dust what he was doing made a _little_ sense.

In as much as Tamahome, Nuriko, and Yui standing on the other side of it made any sense.

"... _Uh?_ "

Tamahome had draped himself halfway over the back of Nuriko, struggling to restrain her, and Yui had (pretty mercilessly) grabbed fistfuls of Nuriko's hair. Two things happened: A chill of dread passed through her as she saw the murderous look in her ornery warrior's eyes, and then a flash of red-hot embarrassment immediately followed it when she realized her best friend could clearly see her laying all disheveled on her back on the emperor's bed.

When she was definitely, _absolutely_ not coming here to do that.

She coughed and immediately scrambled up to a sitting position, fixing her robe and hair as quickly as she could. Across the room, she heard Hotohori speaking in a voice that sounded a touch too flat and cold to be the one he usually reserved for Yui and the other Suzaku warriors.

"I-It's _not what it looks like_!" Out of the three who shrieked in unison, Tamahome's voice actually managed to reach the highest register. She might be more amused if she weren't still so mortified.

"Sh-she ran off while she was meant to be helping with something..." Nuriko's statement lacked the conviction and volume of the first statement, but those dark, angry eyes on Miaka lacked _none_ of that.

She shivered and looked over to her friend instead. Yui's face was at least as red as the tapestries in the room, and she shifted uncomfortably back and forth on her feet. When Miaka caught Yui muttering something about 'getting right back to it', though, she finally managed to snap herself out of her shock.

"A-ah...actually I should get going, too, Hotohori!"

She was quick enough that she was halfway to the door of the room when Hotohori finally responded. When he did, though, her feet stopped moving entirely.

"Miaka...once Suzaku arrives and all of this is finished...I wish you to be my empress."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"...Well. That was abrupt."

Miaka looked as if she'd been through a far more stressful experience than having a very beautiful and kind emperor propose to her after declaring an undying love for her. In fairness...Yui hadn't even been on the receiving end of that killing intent Nuriko had been radiating in the quarters, and _she'd_ felt a little bit harried by it.

" _That's all you've got to say?_ "

Yui winced slightly at Miaka's volume. She still hadn't even _tried_ to get to sleep since her friend had almost drowned, and after expending all that energy trying to keep back that brutish woman, the loud sound just made her pounding headache worse. It was pretty tempting to be uncharitable to her friend for just that reason. And for the whole 'stressing out about being offered empress' thing.

After all, if _Tamahome_ had ever drawn so close and said things like that to her...

"But we're just _junior high school girls_!" Miaka huffed loudly, cutting through her thoughts, and flopped backward onto the ground.

"Junior high..." Yui found her eyes dropping down to her hands. There were faint remnants of ink smudges on them from the notes she'd been taking earlier that night. "If we were back home...we'd all be high schoolers now, though. It's normal to get someone you're interested in during high school."

"High...oh." Miaka blinked, staring up at the ceiling with such surprise that it was evident the date had slipped by her entirely. "Our entrance exams..."

She couldn't help a bitter smile as she glanced up at the pile of books she'd assembled in her room. "We really studied hard...but now we won't be able to advance for another year. We'll have to do lots of make up studying when we get home."

"Oh _nooo_!" Miaka groaned and pressed her hands to her eyes, flopping around dramatically on the floor. "This is the worst thing _ever_! I'm gonna have to study so much when I get home I'm gonna _die_!"

Yui laughed, despite herself. There still wasn't as much warmth in it as was usual...but then, she was tired. Her friend couldn't expect _everyone_ to be as energetic at such a late hour as a girl who just found out she'd be a future bride to an emperor. "Then again...maybe you won't have to worry about it at all. After all...if you stay here and become his empress...you'll never have to worry about school again. If I had the choice to do something like that, I'd take it for sure."

Her friend stilled at that, and her hands dropped down, expression one of rare seriousness and determination. "Yui..."

"Kidding!" She stuck her tongue out at her friend briefly, and then crossed her legs, waving the subject away quickly, before her friend could continue on any further. " _Obviously_ I'm going to get back home and keep studying. This isn't my adventure, remember? I'm just here as your support cast until you can summon Suzaku and get your wishes."

"That's not..."

Yui smiled right over her friend's words, determined and hard. " _It's okay_. No matter what happens, we've always been there for each other, right? You have for me, too. But I guess I'm gonna have to keep a closer eye on you now, just to make sure that creep doesn't make any more moves on you before you two get married."

Miaka made a scandalized noise. " _YUI_! _"_

This time, her laughter didn't feel forced at all.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He should be sleeping.

He really should be sleeping, because right up until he got into bed he felt _exhausted_. Instead, he found himself staring up at the weird patterns the palace decided to draw on the ceiling. But he wasn't really looking at them, because he'd studied them to death during the times when he'd been bored before Nuriko and Yui had been busy.

Before Yui...

That wasn't so long ago, was it? Actually, it was only a few months. Before Yui, before the crazy Priestess of Suzaku stuff, before he'd gotten himself abducted off of the streets as an honest mercenary-slash-occasional thief and into the palace walls where everything he could ask for was provided for him before he could even figure out to ask for it.

Honestly, he'd been on trips longer than he'd known that blonde girl and her crazy friend. And if things kept progressing at the speed they were (apparently they had a road map and the emperor had finally figured it out, if he understood how they found Nuriko properly), then...they were almost halfway there already. Probably it wouldn't even be another year before Miaka summoned that feathery god and granted the country the wishes they wanted. He'd go back to his life, demand a fat reward for his part, and do his family well for the rest of their lives, hopefully.

Apparently, Miaka would end up the world's craziest and most danger-happy empress in the world.

And Yui...

She'd go home, wouldn't she.

That'd been what she was always talking about when it wasn't her asking questions about the world and him dancing around questions about his home life. (She was too bright and too smart to spend time pitying him) When the god was summoned, at least one of those wishes would go to sending that woman back home. Of course they would. She had...studies to get back to. A career and a life that she could never have here in a world where women could apparently have those kinds of things much easier than here.

She was leaving.

She'd be leaving soon.

He needed to stop forgetting that. He _really needed to stop forgetting that_.

He snorted softly to himself and rolled to his side, as if staring at the wall would help him sleep any better than the ceiling. "It's not like it matters anyway."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She didn't get any sleep.

It was probably her own fault, because she'd just been...brushing up on her studies. She'd determined that she'd double down on her studies and get through the worksheets she'd written up for all month to simulate the exams she'd missed, just to see if she could have passed.

At some point she'd drifted into a fugue, scribbling answers automatically. When her head slipped off of her hand, she startled painfully awake, and realized that she'd been writing nonsense for _hours_. By the sound of the servants outside, it must have been daylight already.

She sighed, staring mournfully at the ruined papers, and slumped back in her chair. "...I guess I got a nap after all..."

Still...now that she had, she was powerfully hungry. Her stomach hurt and her head hurt even worse than it had the night before. What she needed was some food and water. But...at this time of day, most of the servants were probably busy with all their morning duties and getting ready to feed the aristocrats and such. Asking for food now would just be a trouble to them: not to mention she'd need to wait forever anyway.

She shoved herself out of her chair and stretched, wincing again as her back popped. "Mmm...no more sleeping in the chair..."

It wasn't the first time she'd made such a promise to herself.

Determined to find food, she slipped out of the room and couldn't help a slim smile to herself. Generally, it was Miaka who went sneaking out at ungodly hours to find food, wasn't it? Well...sometimes she could do it too, after a hard night of studying. She just liked to keep that a secret, or Miaka would only be encouraged to do it more often.

On her way to the main kitchen, she spotted Tamahome, already up and walking around the palace himself. For once, Nuriko hadn't already attached herself to him. That alone was at least worth going to see him, even if she really needed that food and probably looked downright _awful_.

Despite herself, just approaching him she could feel a faint smile grow on her face. After all...besides Miaka...he might have been one of the people who was the closest to her that she'd ever had. One of them, anyway. And he was certainly her closest bond outside of Miaka in _this_ strange world.

"Tamahome..."

He'd been humming something to himself that she didn't recognize, apparently lost in thought. When she spoke he paused and looked at her, an expression of mild surprise on his face, as if he hadn't seen her there yet. "...Hey."

That was...a pretty flat and uninterested response. And then, while she was still surprised by his lack of response, he just...started walking again, starting up that humming once more as if he hadn't been interrupted at all. She stared after him for a moment, confused, before speaking again. "H- _hey_ , wait..."

"I'm going into town. Cya.' He waved in the air, either in a detached gesture of farewell, or a dismissive flick of his hand. She couldn't tell.

" _Tamahome_!"

He said not one word. Instead, he simply hummed to himself as he walked away.

As if she weren't even there.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She'd been slipping artfully through the dawn shadows, sneaking toward Yui's building to invite her to an early breakfast, when a slim hand grabbed her shoulder. She nearly shouted in shock, because she'd been sneaking so well that she was totally invisible to the naked eye until then.

The hand was feminine, but the grip was anything but.

_Nuriko..._

_"So that's what your word means to you..."  
_

The way Nuriko hissed reminded Miaka of an angry snake. Or it was the sense that Nuriko was about to strike and kill her at any moment radiating off of the delicate looking woman. One of those two did it.

"N-Nuriko that wasn't what I meant! I promise that wasn't-"

"If that's the way that it's going to be, then you can _forget_ about me _ever letting go of Tamahome_."

_What..._

"You can't do that! It's not even Yui's _fault_...!"

Nuriko took a step back, releasing her, but glared down coldly at her all the same. "So I should let go of Hotohori _and_ Tama-baby just because the two of you _invaders_ came into this land and decided you wanted them? Why should two little girls who don't even _belong_ here steal people from the ones who do?" She huffed, and crossed her arms. "Besides, if you really cared so much about your friend, then you wouldn't have acted so selfishly!"

With a twirl far more graceful than her brute strength would imply, Nuriko marched away, head held high.

All of the stress and frustration that had been on her the night before dropped upon Miaka's shoulders anew, and she found herself sinking to her knees.

_She's...really going to pursue Tamahome just to punish me, even though it's Yui who...?_

At some point in the night before, it had been about trying to befriend and win over the warrior so that she could summon Suzaku and fulfill her duties as Priestess. When she'd walked in on Nuriko and Yui's argument and heard about the warrior's feelings for Hotohori, though...it had become about that _and_ a chance to help fix things for Yui as well.

But she'd failed at _both_ of those now. _And now Yui_...

The words Hotohori had said to her the night before occurred to her. Or, rather, what he'd implied. That he could do something if she'd kept misbehaving. And...well...she'd _never_ do that just to get someone to be _nice_ to her but...

_But this is Yui_...

She didn't need Nuriko to be nice to her. Maybe she could convince the woman with more effort and hard work that they really _could_ be friends...but until then she couldn't just stand there and watch her friend suffer just because of some ridiculous vendetta! She couldn't!

Without another thought, she pushed herself up to her feet and bolted toward the main palace building. She'd been in the palace long enough now that she knew where that was. And as for Hotohori...she'd also been in the palace long enough to know that at this early hour he'd already be awake, sitting in the throne room and listening to whatever morning business there happened to be for him already.

She felt a pang of guilt as she realized he got _so little_ sleep and she'd gone and woken him up for a failed attempt at matchmaking during the little time he'd gotten. That guilt was quickly swept aside by a hot rush of embarrassment when her mind immediately jumped ahead to his _reaction_ to her attempt.

_W-wow, geez Miaka! Focus! This is about Yui right now, okay? I'm just going to go and ask him if he's not busy and then go see Yui immediately. It's not a big deal. If he's busy...then...I'll just go see Yui first and explain my plan to her. Just so she doesn't worry anymore._

Once she made her way to one of the rear entrances of the main building, she slipped quietly through the doors. Naturally, as she was allowed everywhere in the palace without question, the few guards stationed there ignored her completely. Which was just fine for her. It was a few hallways away from the main throne room, but she still didn't want to have to talk loudly enough to disturb anyone.

Once she made it to one of the doors closer to the throne, she cracked the door open and peered inside.

As expected, Hotohori sat on his throne in his full ceremonial gear. In her opinion he looked better in the casual clothing she usually saw him in...but...arrayed as he was in his official robes and crown...he really did look majestic that way. No one would ever question if they saw him sitting there that he belonged up there. Imperial royalty really was in the blood, wasn't it?

Someone was kneeling on the floor in front of him, speaking to him about...something. She had no idea what it was, but it sounded complicated. At the main doorway she could see several others gathered there, waiting for their turn to have an audience with him.

"...Oh...I completely forgot. He has all the people come in and address their concerns with him personally every day..." One of the advisers had mentioned it to her one day earlier on when she'd gone looking for him and couldn't find him. But it had been a while, and he never spoke of it to her when she was with him. "He looks so invested in it...I hope he's not just a good actor...!"

After a moment, she gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

_Oh no! I said all that out loud!_

In an embarrassed panic, she rushed away from the door, dashing back toward Yui's place with as much stealth as she could afford under the circumstances.

_Calm down, Miaka_... _no one saw you, you only peeked in! And that guy was talking really loudly, too! There's no way anyone even knew you were there, so you're totally overreacting._

"Miaka."

She shrieked and jumped in surprise, spinning around to see who had called her name.

Hotohori stood a few paces away from her, still dressed in his regal robes, a look of consternation on his face. "I apologize for startling you...I only meant to speak to you."

"I-..." He'd caught her? How? "I thought you were busy!"

"I had wanted to know why you came..."

"Er..." She shifted awkwardly on her feet. "How did you know...?"

"Ah..." His expression changed to one of slight bewilderment. "Miaka...I believe everyone in the throne heard you speak."

"Oh."

"But then, I could have simply been lucky, as well." He spoke in a warm, reassuring voice. "The look the minister got on his face was undoubtedly the bad olive he ate. I did try to warn him it looked suspicious."

"Um...I don't want to take you from your...uh...peasants..."

He laughed suddenly, expression crinkling up in a way that had her breath catch for a moment, despite her embarrassment. "Miaka, they were not our ' _peasants'_. They are foreign diplomats from Bei-Jia."

"Ah! Ah...oops..." Quickly, she scrambled through her mind again: had she said anything rude _out loud_? She'd said that actor thing, hadn't she? Oh no, she'd made things bad for Yui, and now she'd sown doubt in Hong-nan's allies!

"There was surely no harm done. They were so distracted speaking that I'm certain they didn't hear you at all."

"Don't...don't lie to me..." She couldn't quite make herself look up at him, so she stared at the ground instead. "I want to trust you."

For a few long moments, he was silent, and she could feel him staring down at her. "I am sorry, Miaka...I didn't mean to upset you."

"That's...that's okay, the truth is supposed to hurt sometimes, right? Especially when you've done something wrong."

"Miaka..."

"Remember what you said last night?" She spoke quickly both to cut him off, and to keep him from going to the _wrong_ part of that night. "When I was going to see Nuriko?"

"...Ah...yes?"

"I...I mean...I really don't want to ask...it isn't for me! I'm still gonna befriend her in my own way! It's just that...the things that she's doing with Tamahome...they're not even because she likes him! She's just trying to hurt Yui and...and I can't just let her _do_ that, Yui hasn't don't anything and I have to-"

"Say nothing more of it." His voice was firm, but no less warm than before. "I am glad you told me of this. I shall speak with her immediately."

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you about this when you were-"

"Miaka." He reached out suddenly and pulled her into his arms.

He was...warm. It was really, really warm in his arms. But...in a nice way. It felt so...comfortable. Like he'd found a way to make her fit just right, there.

"Miaka, if ever there is-"

In the distance, a scream sliced through the silence of the morning, cutting him off.

_Yui!_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Nuriko chattered on by his ear endlessly.

Frankly, it was irritating to the _highest_ degree. But that was pretty ridiculous, wasn't it? Even if this girl would have rather had the emperor than him, who wouldn't? He was some street urchin with a ghost tattooed onto his forehead. That didn't exactly make him catch of the year.

And...well. It wasn't like he'd find anyone better than a woman who used to be in the emperor's own _harem_. What kind of a sane man ignored that, just for...

Just for...

There wasn't anything to rebuff her for, was there?

She tugged at his arm and he made an annoyed sound, tugging himself free. A moment later, she just seized it again.

_Other than how annoying she is, anyway_. _Suzaku, she really doesn't know how to take it easy on a guy, does she?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka gasped in horror, and felt the blood drain right from her face as she turned the corner.

Yui was sprawled out on the ground in the middle of the dirt, barely breathing. There wasn't any sign of any damage to her, but...

"No! _Yui_!"

"What is the _meaning_ of this?" Hotohori demanded, anger creeping into his voice as he looked to the servant the scream originated from.

"I...I was simply going to heat baths and I found her..."

Carefully, Miaka knelt down to feel Yui's forehead. She drew her hand away immediately at the heat that was present. "She's...it's a fever!" Up closer, she could see her friend's breathing was unsteady and shaky, not just shallow.

"Get the palace doctors, _now_!" Hotohori ordered, gesturing toward the lady out of the corner of Miaka's vision.

"Yes, your Majesty!"

"She is still breathing..." His voice was calmer...but it was that of someone trying to reassure someone in an...in a bad situation and...and...

She shook her head quickly, tears blurring her vision. "N...no! No, this isn't happening! Yui was _fine_! She was okay just last night! You saw! You saw she was okay, she can't just have a fever now!"

Did they even have medicine in this world? Did they have anything that could treat her? What if it was something really bad? What was she going to do? She couldn't just...she couldn't. How could she spend her time in a world like this _alone_? "Yui... _Yui_...please...please! Yui, _wake up_! Please, _I need you here_!"

He squeezed her shoulder firmly, kneeling down next to her, "She will not die. I will not let her die."

"She's...she's so...pale..." She whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

"Miaka..."

" _Why_? I don't understand!" She wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, squeezing her tight and willing her friend to get better, for her labored pants to steady and calm, and the burning heat of her skin to level back down. " _Yui_!"


	7. The Aimless Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She breathed something out, a pained sound, a whimper of discomfort due to the fever. Nothing comprehensible or meant to be a word of any sort outside of whatever dream she might have been trapped within at that time.
> 
> It only sounded like his name in his own imagination.

_The two young ladies with destinies intertwined had minds weighed down heavily by the choices that lay before them. One slept with fever, disturbed by dreams of those things she feared and lost, and of the things she wished for, far from reach. The other remained steadfast by her bedside, refusing sleep or food until she was certain of her comrade's health._

_The celestial warrior Hotohori ordered palace doctors and medicines to tend to the sleeping young lady in an attempt to ease her suffering and lower the burning fire within her body. Their efforts were to little avail, however, as the young lady's body had been abused and strained long past its limit during its time facing in the new world she faced. All that could be done for the young lady was to receive her long-required rest._

_And still, the troubled heart of the waking young lady would not be calmed until her friend would wake as well. As days passed, she lingered at the young lady's bedside, helping in all efforts to soothe and replenish the energy of the sleeping young lady._

_In another world, another woman lingered by another bedside, listening to the word of another medic._

"I am very sorry, Ms. Kuwa. All that we can do now is keep her well hydrated and wait."

"I just...don't understand..." The older woman shook her head, staring down at her child, who tossed and turned in a troubled dream. "She was healthy at dinner. She didn't even look tired."

"Are you certain you have no family history of this? These sorts of things can strike suddenly when a family is prone to fevers."

She shook her head slowly. "She's so healthy, usually..."

The man settled his hand on her shoulder lightly. "I can tell you this, Ms. Kuwa. There isn't anything _physically_ wrong with her. We've checked for everything that could possibly cause this, and there isn't any sign of anything wrong with her." He turned his head to the sleeping girl. "I believe...once her fever breaks, she will wake on her own."

The woman brushed away a building tear with the back of her hand, as she stared down at her daughter. "Fu...wake up soon..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Morin stared up at the ceiling, sitting back in her chair just a little bit more than she probably should. It would be fine, though. Her room was small enough and cramped enough that even if it tipped over, the back of the chair would just hit the wall behind her. It might be scary, but probably she wouldn't get hurt. Right?

Right.

But that was just...distracting herself. Mostly, she was thinking about normal, safe things. Things that made much more sense than the rest of her day had. _Seriously...what's going on? That blood...all that water...I couldn't have imagined it, right? Other people saw it, too!_

She sighed. _Nothing makes any sense_.

Idly, she stared over her shoulder at the book she'd found lying on the street outside the library. It was so old looking, it had to go in there. But the library was already closed. She'd picked it up and brought it home with her so she could take it back tomorrow, just in case it rained that night and ruined it. After all, it looked pretty valuable, being that old.

She quirked her head to the side to read the spine of the book. "Seriously, though...I've never seen a library lend out a book _that_ old looking..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Your majesty...there is nothing more we can do." The man shook his head. "Her fever must break on its own, or it will not."

" _No_!" Miaka snapped, voice thick with tears. "That's...that's not going to happen! It's going to break! That's not...that isn't how it's supposed..."

_This was supposed to be a chance to escape from reality and have wishes granted! This is just a book...Yui can't die! She can't!_

"There _must_ be something you can do." Hotohori issued the demand with all the authority in his voice that her outburst lacked. As if simply by ordering it so, the men around them could change reality.

She really, really wanted them to.

"There...there is a rumor of a great doctor in one of the northern villages. Perhaps he could help." The man shook his head. "But that is a several days ride away, and which town...we would have to search to determine which one he resides within. During that time..."

"Enough." Hotohori shook his head, grimacing in frustration. "We do not have such time."

_If we were home..._

_If she were only home, in a hospital, with medicine in the real world...then she'd be fine! If she were only home! Damn it, why did the book have to close? It's not fair! Let me take her back! Please, please just let me go home!_

"...Home?" Hotohori's voice was quiet, and there was something strange...unreadable about his voice.

Maybe it was just her surprise that he'd read her mind that made him unreadable. "Wh...what?"

"You were whispering about bringing her home..."

"O-oh..." She'd been focusing so hard on trying to force herself to go back through the cover of the book that she hadn't realized she'd started chanting out loud. Apparently. That was at least more believable and less sudden than the emperor next to her suddenly gaining super powers.

"Uh..." She nodded, voice still shaky from tears. "If...if we were home, they'd be able to help her. We have medicine and...and _things_ that can help with fevers!"

"Then...perhaps we can take her home."

She must have misheard him, even though his voice was carefully measured and determined, and he didn't stutter at all. Because they couldn't get back except by wish, unless someone outside opened that book again (and no one had in months). "What?"

His hazel-gold eyes dropped away from her, hidden by his long lashes. "There are passages that speak of a way...but to do so...we must travel to see Tai Yi Jun."

There was a place? A _place_ they could actually go to, to go home? All this time Yui could have gone back...(but then she would have been alone here, wouldn't she? Except...no. No, she'd rather be alone, rather give up all of her wishes entirely and leave with Yui forever if it meant saving her from this. From...)

"She resides in the mountains...but such a harrowing journey in such a condition..."

_Oh no...oh no, there's no cars or safe method of carrying people, are there? And mountain climbing? What are we gonna do? If she doesn't wake up...!_

"Miaka." He spoke firmly again, cutting through her thoughts. "Either way may prove futile. If you believe there is a chance to save her by bringing her home, however..."

"I..." Miaka shook her head violently. "I _won't sit here and let her die_!" Even if there was a chance it wouldn't help, at least she'd _try_. She had to _try_. Yui would. She knew she would.

_She'd just said...last night...we look out for each other and support each other, right? But now she's like this...like this and I can't do anything! It isn't fair!_

"We shall prepare to leave immediately, then."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He completely lost his balance. It was amazing that he didn't immediately crash to the ground with his stomach as soon as he heard the servant speaking. It wasn't to him, just in passing to some other person. _The priestess' friend collapsed, did you hear?_

It wasn't very fair to the poor girl to grab her so roughly, but he didn't think well enough to do it properly. " _Tell me_."

Her eyes were wide no doubt from the unexpected man handling. Or it was due to the menacing glow of the character on his forehead. in general, the first time someone saw it on him their reaction tended to be one of fear or disgust. It didn't even phase him to see such a reaction from yet another person. It wasn't important at the moment, anyway.

"I-I...That girl who came to the palace with the priestess. She...she collapsed this morning. The doctors say she has an incurable fever."

He didn't need to ask where the medics would have taken her, because he'd had his fair share of scrapes, and he'd seen where sick and injured servants had gone during his time in the palace. He'd had literally nothing better to do than to see that, most of the time. Thus, he didn't wait to listen any longer. He'd actually started running across the courtyard before he'd realized that he had.

His heart beat faster than it had since he'd almost been crushed, and that didn't make any sense. After all, _he_ wasn't the one with the fever, or the one about to be crushed to death, this time. And it was only a fever. People had fevers all the time, even if they were 'incurable'. Those just...broke on their own.

They did, right?

They definitely had to.

He crashed through the door with enough speed and force that Miaka, who'd been sitting in a chair next to where Yui was lying on the bed, shrieked in surprise and almost fell to the ground. Which was kind of an over reaction. Even if he felt a little bad for that. After all, this was her best friend in the bed. As bad as he might have...worried...the two of them were barely even friends.

He couldn't claim that he cared about the blonde nearly as much as Miaka did. It was just...really he had money invested in her welfare. There wouldn't be much point in him rescuing the girl from those thugs when they first met if she was just going to collapse all on her own a few months later.

He padded quietly through the room, approaching the bed so that he could get a better look at the sleeping girl. Her cheeks were flushed pink, but the rest of her skin was starkly pale, sweat beaded on her skin despite the rag pressed to her forehead, and she took rapid, pained breaths.

"...What happened?"

Miaka shook her head, lips quavering and eyes shining with tears. "I...I don't know...she just...she just _collapsed_..."

He bit his cheek hard enough that the taste of blood ran along the side of his tongue. _What an annoying girl._

Hesitantly, he reached out, and touched his fingers to her hand. The skin was hot enough he was almost surprised it didn't burn his own. He refused to pull it away, though. Not immediately. Even if she had a fever...Yui was still there, lost amongst the burning fever and whatever dreams raced through her mind. A person needed support from others to get through a thing like that.

"Hey..." There was a faint scratchiness to his voice, and he swallowed, banishing it. "Yui. If you don't get a grip...just who am I supposed to hide out with when Nuriko comes looking for me, huh?"

She breathed something out, a pained sound, a whimper of discomfort due to the fever. Nothing comprehensible or meant to be a word of any sort outside of whatever dream she might have been trapped within at that time.

It only sounded like his name in his own imagination.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

At some point, she knew she'd fallen asleep at Yui's bedside.

She knew that, because at some point Yui had turned into strawberry ice cream and she'd had a very long moral dilemma about whether it was okay to eat her best friend as long as she was foodstuffs that would melt if she didn't. Tamahome, who was maple syrup, kept insisting that if they baked her with oreos it would solve everything and return her to normal.

But it didn't matter, because there wasn't a spoon anyway and...

" _Miaka..._ "

She startled awake, only having dozed off to begin with.

Had someone said...?

"Mia..." The feminine voice cracked, and Miaka's heart almost stopped with shock.

" _Yui!"_

Heedless of the exhausted and drawn look on her friend's face, she flung herself from the chair and wrapped her arms around the girl's neck, tears burning fresh in her eyes. " _Yui! Yui, you're okay! You're okay_!"

For a few moments, her tired friend did nothing but lay there, partially lifted up by the hug...doing something. Maybe staring at the ceiling. Miaka couldn't actually tell, because her face was buried in her friend's shoulder. After a moment or two, though, slim arms curled around her, and a comfortingly strong hug pulled her a little closer.

"...Hey, you big cry baby. Don't...don't get your gross snot all over me."

Her laugh turned into a hiccup, but she still managed to pull herself away from her friend long enough to scrub at her face and eyes. "Yui...Yui, I thought-"

Her friend offered a weak smile. "Don't be a dummy."

"Yui..." She shook her head, struggling to clear her thoughts. "What...what _happened_?"

Her face tightened slightly in thought, and she shook her head. "I'm...I'm not sure. I was just...walking...and then I was dizzy, and...now I'm here. I don't remember anything between that."

Miaka bit her lip and sat back in her chair, frowning. When she'd seen Tamahome he'd looked...guilty. For a little bit, she'd thought maybe he'd done something, caused something, or went and allowed Nuriko to do something. Yet...if Yui said that she'd only fainted, then it must not have been anything like that. But then, that made more sense, anyway. She'd never picture Tamahome as the kind of person that would hurt anyone like Yui.

"...We're going home."

Yui, who'd been looking off into the distance, as if still partly in a daze from her fever, immediately turned her attention to Miaka again, eyes wide and clear.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Home..._

Miaka had left finally, with much shooing and loud demands to let her rest in peace (quickly rephrased to something that didn't make her friend look like she was about to burst into tears). Before that, she'd explained about as well as Miaka ever could that there was a method to return home after all.

A part of her was irate that it had been kept from them. But then...considering the circumstances, she could also understand why it had yet to come up. Miaka had, after all, agreed to be priestess. After summoning the beast god, she'd be allowed to return home (or not, if a certain love-struck emperor had a say, apparently) anyway. Giving her a way home before that didn't serve much point, did it?

...She couldn't entirely rid herself of the resentment she felt.

She slid her knees up to her chin and stared off at the far wall of her room, where a mess of papers were still left from her failed exam practice that...er. Whenever it was that she'd done that, before her fever took a day away from her.

Speaking of...she still felt weak and dizzy, her body still warned her against moving too quickly or too much. "...And now I'm going to go climb a mountain..."

She gave a soft laugh that echoed through the room without any actual mirth.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He was, perhaps, allowing his emotions to show too strongly.

His dismissal of an adviser had been curt by design, but the flash of wariness (if not directly fear) and the manner in which the man skittered away quite so quickly had not been. A good emperor learned to control and conceal his emotions, to prevent them from ever overflowing and influencing his decisions wrongly.

He had known this much of his life.

It was perhaps the most difficult moment in his life to follow that teaching.

And perhaps the person whom he was seeking out at the moment was not the culprit behind the burning fury and frustration crackling under his skin, but they were an unfortunate outlet for it. Their behavior was inappropriate enough, it couldn't be ruled out completely that it contributed to the state that Miaka's friend was currently in.

But more importantly...because of this...

Miaka would be...

For a moment, his fists clenched within the sleeves of his robes, fighting down a wave of frustration and grief. Dealing with Nuriko in such a state would not end well, but...without at least that much to accomplish and contribute, he felt all the more helpless. What sort of a celestial warrior was he, to be unable to help the priestess he had been born to protect?

"Hotohori..." A soft voice filtered through the air behind him, and he halted immediately. For a terrible moment, he thought the worst: that Miaka would have left Yui's side when she was in such a state...could possibly mean that she...

"Her fever's broken."

Relief washed over him with such strength that he nearly staggered. To hear such words...even if he had expended all of his resources fruitlessly to help the young lady...if she was alright after all, that was what mattered in the end, didn't it?

He turned around to face the priestess then, and immediate felt his heart sink at the look on her face.

She glanced away from him after a moment, eyes dark with a sadness and regret he dreaded and at the same time wished that he could simply brush away. "...But she still...I still want to take her home."

He watched her for a few moments, forcing down the thoughts and the regrets that attempted to surface. As much as it was a true relief and blessing to be allowed to show his true self to Miaka, not to fear revealing his thoughts and emotions to her as another person rather than guarding them to protect a subject or alliance...

This was not the time to allow his selfishness to interfere.

"Then we will continue preparations." She stiffened slightly, her shoulders squaring, and for a moment his resolve wavered. He reached out briefly, hand touching her shoulder...and then drew back his hand. It was not an appropriate moment to express his feelings toward her. He was aware of that. "Fear not. Now that she will be able to move safely, the journey will be far more expedient and safe."

Her voice was barely audible, but it might as well have been a scream. "When she leaves...I'm going with her."

_Leaving_...

After so many years waiting, after finally finding the woman who was exactly as he'd always hoped her to be...

Already, she was leaving.

As if she sensed his thoughts-and perhaps those were no less difficult to read than the emotions he found himself unable to control-she immediately straightened herself and looked up at him, eyes wide and shining with tears. "But...but I'm going to come back! I promise! Once I know that Yui is okay...I'll...I promise that I'll come back and be your priestess! I promise!"

He summoned a soft smile then, one of encouragement, and reached up to touch the warmth of her cheek, pressed his hand lightly to the one who would soon vanish like mist before him. "Trouble yourself not with such things, Miaka...for now, worry only for your friend. You are, after all, the chosen one of Suzaku. And..." He strengthened his voice, pressed into it all of his hope and determination, banished the fear and loneliness that her departure summoned within him. "Much more important to me... _you are Miaka._ I would not doubt your word for a moment."

Her lips formed a slow, trembling smile and a moment later she flung herself into him, arms gripping him tight. On instinct, his own arms curled around her, and he tucked his chin over soft hair. "Hotohori...I promise... _I promise_!"

He had no need to ask her whether her words were meant to convince herself more than he.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She shrieked much louder than she thought she could, and immediately flung the nearest thing-a book-at the sudden intruder in her room.

" _Whoa_!" Tamahome, who had of course chosen the moment she'd begun to change to just _barge_ into her room without knocking, jumped out of the path of the flying book with a small yelp. The book itself slammed into the wall behind him with an echoing crash. "Suzaku, that's a _mean_ arm."

_Tamahome_...

Just why...what was he doing in her room, anyway? When she'd last seen him, he'd barely even given her a moment of his time. She frowned to herself and looked away from him with determination, working to quickly secure her clothes before anything could fall off. "What...what are you doing here?"

"I..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Um. Sorry...bad timing."

She settled a cold gaze on him. It wasn't fair of him. He couldn't just be _cold_ for no reason and then pretend that he wasn't! What kind of a person did that? What kind of a...what kind of a _friend_...? "You can't hide in here. There'll be doctors here soon."

"That's...that isn't it..." He stuttered something under his breath and frowned in consternation to himself. She couldn't make it out, but...even if it was unfair (it wasn't like he was the only reason she'd ended up collapsing, after all) just seeing him there, being as frustrating and difficult as ever, was making her angry.

" _What_?"

"... _I'm sorry_." He didn't meet her gaze, even if his words were loud and firm now. He stared at something on the ground. "I know...the kinds of things you keep thinking about that Nuriko, but they're not. True. There's nothing going on. There never has been, and there's not going to be."

She bit her lip, and swallowed down that swell of emotion that struggled to overcome her common sense. It wasn't...there wasn't even really a _reason_ for that emotion. She couldn't identify it at all. That was just silly. "Why...what's that supposed to mean to me? It's not like you need to apologize about who you like or don't."

His dark eyes met hers. She forgot to breathe.

"That's...because..."

_Tamahome_...

"...I-" He glanced away from her suddenly, and turned back toward the door. "I'm going to make sure you return to your world safely. Free of charge this time."

The sudden change made her dizzy, and she nearly fell over in the bed she'd been sitting up in. _Did he just-_

_What..._

"Tama..."

"Please recover quickly." He hesitated only a moment longer, and then vanished through the door without another word.

... _home_.

Before she'd even realized it, her pillow smacked into the closed door.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She had work to do.

She had to get prepared! She didn't even really know where to start-it wasn't like she'd ever climbed a mountain without a clear path straight up it before. There was probably tons of food she needed to pack. And a change of clothes, but it had to be something she wore _before_ she got to the mountain, because she couldn't just pop into the real world again in clothes from here!

Would it even appear if she did?

Would it be weirder if she was in her old uniform?

What would she even say...? It wasn't like they could get away with saying they'd been sucked into a strange book in the library and been on an adventure until then, right? So they'd have to come up with a story that actually made sense. (Good thing she had Yui there to help).

And then...she had to decide when she could come back...

So that she could spend months away again...

without telling anyone...

and leave Yui there.

Her footsteps stopped, and behind her, she heard Hotohori's halt as well.

"Hotohori..."

She bit her lip, staring down at her feet as tears burned in her eyes. "...I'm so... _I'm sorry_."


	8. A Dark Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He frowned, leaning against a nearby tree as he watched Miaka and the emperor...flirt. There were many things he wanted and quite a few things he expected to see in his life. The reigning emperor of his country flirting with a crazy girl who'd caught his fancy was not one of those

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out, the story of the fic asserts itself pretty strongly. Edits will be simpler here, because there's less need to cut canon retreading, and much less extraneous things.

He was silent.

They were outside, it was full daylight, and she couldn't hear a sound. She was afraid to turn around and see his face, because he must have turned back toward her by now. There was a soft shift of silk on silk, and she was certain it was the movement of him looking back at her.

She couldn't bear to see his face. She could barely deal with _herself_ and...

"I...lied to you."

For a few moments, she thought he'd stay silent, and she didn't know what she'd do if he did. Finally, though, he spoke again. "...Miaka..."

Despite her fear that he _wouldn't_ speak, she spoke up again as soon as he did, all in a rush. If she didn't, she'd probably never have the courage to do it. " _I'll probably never come back_!"

This time he did remain silent.

Her hands shook, and she gripped them into fists to steady herself. _Come on...you have to do this_. Slowly, determined now, she turned on her heel, eyes fixed on the ground even as she did so. For the moment, she had yet to summon the bravery to look up at his eyes, see the hurt and betrayal that must have been there. "I'm...I'm so sorry. I promised to be your priestess, I got everyone's hopes up like that and now...I-I _want_ to stay!"

She wasn't wrong. When she looked up at him, even through the tears burning at the corner's of her eyes...his own pained expression made her chest hurt. "I want to be your priestess! _I really do!_ But...but once I get back...when I leave the book I can't-I won't just be able to leave my family again. I've been gone for months, and they'll be so worried, and...and I don't know when they'll..."

"Miaka..." His voice was soft, so soft it could have been the echo of a distant conversation instead of a man standing only a foot from her. Yet, it cut through her words as effectively as if he'd shouted. Warm arms curled around her, pulling her into another embrace. "This I promise you, no matter how long it may be, no matter how many years may pass before you return...I will be waiting. To the end of my days, I would _gladly_ wait."

 _Why_...? _Doesn't he understand? He can't just swear away his life like that! How could he promise to wait a lifetime? It's not fair!_

She shook her head. Someone like him...an emperor with so many adoring people and so many pressing responsibilities, he couldn't just put everything on hold for some silly school girl like her. Not...if it were for years. or if ... "I...might never-"

"Then I will find you when I am reborn. To see you again, Miaka, I will allow nothing to be a barrier. Not even death."

Against her best efforts and intentions, a sudden sob wrenched from her, and she gripped the silk of his robes fiercely in her hands. "I'm so _scared_! I don't want to...I-I can't..." _Imagine never seeing you again_.

Did she really think that?

Was that...really...the truth? Even after his bold proclamation, she'd never really thought about it before. She'd thought about _going home_ , but...somehow she'd never thought of never seeing him again. Of leaving not only the word but the people she'd met here.

Of...leaving...

She shook her head quickly, struggling to regain her composure. That was...that wasn't...that _couldn't_ be what she felt!

"I-I'm ruining your robe!" She attempted to pull back, so that her tears wouldn't stain the expensive silk...and so she could escape the feelings bubbling up in her mind the longer she stayed within the warmth of his arms. Rather than give, however, his arms stayed put, keeping her from moving more than an inch away.

"Of those, I have plenty to spare..." His whisper this time was hoarse.

_Hotohori..._

The grief and hopelessness she felt moments before at the thought of never seeing him-never having him so close-ever again swept over her once again in a powerful wave of emotion, and she buried her face into his robes with a cry of distress.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In the end, it took much of the rest of the day for everyone to finish preparations, and by then it was decided that they rest the night before leaving. Before embarking on a new journey it seemed like a good idea to make sure Yui got at least a little more rest, anyway.

_...I'm sure he was planning to wait until tomorrow anyway._

At least, she hoped. Otherwise...maybe she had ended up distracting him so much that they'd ended up delaying their departure a whole day. She felt a stab of guilt at the thought that her friend might have had to wait longer to get home just because she'd been...selfish...

"Hey, you don't have to look _that_ upset that we're going home." Yui's dry comment cut through Miaka's thoughts as she strapped a backpack onto the horse next to her.

"A-ah!" She jumped, flushing. "That...that wasn't it! I'm just as happy to be going home as you are, Yui!"

"...I'm sure you are." Her critical expression was anything but trusting. After a moment, it brightened into something dangerous as she looked somewhere over Miaka's shoulder. "Oh! Your betrothed!"

"Wha-" Her cheeks burned bright suddenly when her mind caught up to her friend's jab. "That's _not_ what he is!"

Still, she did turn around. Hotohori had dressed himself in some sort of approximation of 'common' clothes. But, even if they were much more plain than his usual robes, they were definitely a different material than Tamahome's. Would that even really blend in with anything...?

 _Not to mention how pretty he is_...

She stole a glance toward Yui. Her friend had donned some sort of blue and purple dress made for her by one of the handmaidens who'd taken a liking to her over their stay, and stashed her dress in uniform in one of the packs on the horse's back. _She_ , unfortunately, hadn't made any handmaiden friends. Without a pretty dress that wasn't _ridiculously ornate_ to wear instead of her uniform, she was forced to wear a full-cover cloak to hide her identity. Also, there might have been something to do with the fact that the entire city knew what she looked like as the priestess.

Maybe.

Yui flashed a mischievous smile, as if she could discern the reason for Miaka's look. "If you wore something like this you'd just trip all over it and tear it to pieces anyway."

" _Hey_!"

 _Just for that, I should get one for me, too! Maybe Hotohori knows a good tailor who'd be willing to make me something..._ Her train of thought stopped abruptly. _...Except I won't get the chance to do that, will I...? It's not like we'd run into tailors on the way home, will we? And even if we did..._

"You're gonna make me depressed if you keep getting so gloomy in front of me." Yui's smile looked just a little frayed on the edges, and the sight caused an immediate stab of guilt.

_Look at me...here I am...worrying about my own feelings when Yui is suffering._

She shook her head quickly, and summoned a firm smile. "You're right. It's time to be happy! We're gonna get home soon, _and_ I don't even have to worry about exams for a _whole_ year!"

Her friend scoffed. "Yeah, well with _that_ attitude you're _still_ gonna flunk them once they come around again."

"...And when we get back there's gonna be a _celebration dinner_!" She clasped her hands in front of herself, allowing her mind to be swept away by the visions of food and cake that would be presented to them by their relieved and happy family members once they got there again. "Everyone's going to be so happy we're back that we'll get to eat _anything_ we want! All the food we haven't had in months, ice cream, spaghetti, Mattdonald's, _sushi!_ We're gonna get to eat so much we'll be super stuffed and have to lounge around all day just to digest it all!"

"...Now I'm starting to feel ill again..."

She was about to offer to eat Yui's portion instead if she was going to be so critical about it, but a smooth and warm voice cut through their conversation. It was as level as ever (as smooth as it had been rough with unshed tears the day before) and yet...she forgot entirely what she'd been about to say.

"Ah, if you've planned out your return this far...could it be you've decided on which horse you'd like to ride?"

 _Hotohori_...

She glanced over her shoulder at him, shyly, feeling a strange sort of guilt over her enthusiasm all over again. After all...going home meant...

He smiled warmly at her, with none of the strain that had been in Yui's. As if he truly didn't mind at all.

"...horse?"

"Which horse have you chosen to ride? You were the first here, so it is your choice, if you like."

Images of the only time she'd ridden a horse before (if it could be said to be 'riding') flashed through her mind like the world's shortest horror show. _Ohh...not good..._

"Miaka...?" There was a hint of concern in his voice, and she realized belatedly that she'd just gone quiet on him, rather than...shared that particular experience.

"What she's attempting to say..." Yui gave a too-amused smirk. "Is that she can't ride a horse to save her life."

"Ah! If that's the case, then you'll have to ride with me." He said this while walking, and by the time the statement was finished, he'd swept her off of her feet.

" _Hey_! Just because I'm shorter than you doesn't mean-" But...as frustrating as it was, she didn't even get to finish what she was saying before he'd deftly settled her onto the saddle of the horse she'd been standing next to.

She fidgeted nervously, and the horse snorted in warning.

"That dress compliments you, Miss Hongo." Hotohori said with another smile.

"Oh…thanks…" Yui ducked her head suddenly, cheeks tinting pink.

Without even thinking, Miaka snorted just as her horse had. _Geez. Blue and purple don't even look that good on..._ She blinked, and shook her head quickly again. _Oh no. Wow! Did I really just get jealous there? Of Yui?!_

Clearly the emotional roller coaster she'd been on since...since...

It had been a _while,_ hadn't it? Almost starving, almost drowning, dealing with Nuriko...maybe she was suffering a little more stress than she'd realized, too.

The horse shifted slightly, as Hotohori swept onto the horse himself (in a movement she wouldn't have been sure was even possible if she didn't just observe it herself). The saddle was a little bit small for two people, and it required her to be sitting... _really_ close to him, back pressed against his chest. Even though he seemed to be perfectly nonchalant about it, simply adjusting the reins and saddle, she couldn't help the way her cheeks burned red.

Her friend's amused chuckle as she walked away _did not help_.

Nor, as it turned out, did the emperor himself. Just when she thought it was safe, and that she was over-reacting to their proximity, he leaned forward to speak in her ear. "You, Miaka, are more beautiful than the stars that shine in the sky."

She buried her face in her hands just to hide the way her blush immediately flared up, and burrowed deeper into her cloak. He merely responded with a soft and far too lovely rumble of laughter in his chest.

_...This is gonna be a really long trip, isn't it...?_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He frowned, leaning against a nearby tree as he watched Miaka and the emperor...flirt. There were many things he wanted and quite a few things he expected to see in his life. The reigning emperor of his country flirting with a crazy girl who'd caught his fancy was not one of those. Granted, other than his mild alarm for the country (an empress like her sounded like a whole lot of trouble he didn't want to think about), he didn't care who the emperor liked. Mostly.

That didn't mean he wanted to watch them flirt and snuggle in front of everyone. That was just...plain inappropriate.

He snorted to himself in amusement.

Now, that _had_ to be one of the first times a peasant boy ever thought about correcting an emperor's manners. Really, that Miaka was an _awful_ influence. Not that he didn't believe the prophesy and the whole 'saving' Hong-nan thing...but if that influence of hers were to spread around the kingdom, they'd probably all need saving from _themselves_ by the time she was done, not outside forces.

All of that was definitely _not_ just to keep himself from thinking about the blonde who wandered around in clothes that matched the color of her eyes.

Definitely not.

He frowned for a few moments...and then pushed away from the tree, strolling over to where the blonde seemed intent on inspecting a horse's bit. "...You're just gonna get bitten if you keep that up."

She jumped, and then glared at him as if he'd intended on startling her.

He coughed, and rubbed at the back of his head, looking into the sky rather than at the fierce challenge directed at him from the much smaller woman. "So...if I'm to guess about the way you two share experiences...you can't ride a horse either, can you?"

She drew herself up with a huff of irritation. " _I've ridden a horse before_." She shook her head, and crossed her arms. "Before you say it, I'm not interested in sharing a horse with you like Miaka and His Majesty."

He squinted at her. First, he wasn't sure if he believed she'd ridden a horse for any substantial period of time before. Second...why did she have to go and make it weird by comparing it to two people who'd clearly rather be spending time together somewhere they weren't forced to be clothed? "...Look, if you want, you can tell Miaka I'm the one who can't ride and spend the whole trip making fun of me. But doubling up is smart if we want to go unnoticed and I _really_ don't want to ride with _her_."

Her expression screwed up into something disbelieving.

"I will ride the two of us off the very first cliff I find if I have to share it with her."

Maybe he was being dramatic.

Maybe he just didn't want an extremely strong woman being extremely jealous while he was extremely within arm's reach.

After a moment of consideration, she relented and gestured at the horse she'd clearly chosen. "Alright, but if you try anything, I'll knock you right to the ground."

To that, he couldn't help but scoff. _Really_ , of all the complaints she could have about sharing a horse, _that_ was what she thought he'd do to her? Just what kind of a guy did she think he was?

"Yeah right, it's gotta be a _way hotter_ girl for me to think about groping her on horseback."

When she moved to climb onto the horse, stomped on his foot.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Maybe secretly she'd kind of hoped Tamahome would try to copy His Majesty just because the man had pulled that kind of a stunt in front of everyone. She was pretty sure she'd _whack_ him if he tried it, because that would be beyond inappropriate...

but it didn't matter anyway, he didn't even try.

He just wanted to ride with her because of Nuriko. Of course. And then...that stupid crack about hot girls...

 _What an idiot_.

Sometimes, she didn't understand him at all. There were times like when they'd met (and...most of the time before Nuriko, honestly...) when she'd determined he was smart and shrewd. He'd gotten along on his own, learned to survive without any help like she sometimes felt like she'd had to do back home. And then...sometimes it was like he had all the brain power of a room full of delinquents.

Before she could get into determining _why_ that was, Nuriko's voice cut through the din of preparations. Somehow the woman had made it all the way up to their horse without Yui noticing. It nearly startled her badly enough that she'd have fallen out of the saddle if Tamahome weren't _right there_.

She looked...paler than usual, and for a crazy moment, Yui thought the woman might actually have been worried about _her._ But that was insane, and she dismissed it a moment later. Probably, it had far more to do with the way the emperor monitored her movements with an aura of strictness that Yui had yet to see before.

 _...Wait, just what did I miss while I was unconscious?_ It wasn't like she didn't see Nuriko provoke him before she'd ...passed out...but, she hadn't actually gotten the impression that there would be any follow up on that from the man. It was a little concerning if there was, because the kind who were _that_ calm and patient while planning justice were scary.

Especially when they were emperor.

Actually, she was so distracted, she nearly missed Nuriko's snide comment about learning to ride. She huffed and frowned down at the woman. "You've got it wrong. _I'm_ not the one who can't ride a horse. _Tamahome's_ the one who needed help handling a horse and asked for mine."

Tamahome made an offended sound behind her, and she elbowed him.

Nuriko squinted up at her for a few moments, as the emperor continued to observe Nuriko. Finally the woman huffed and turned her head, as if determining it wasn't worth the fight. "Just keep your hands to yourself, then. My Tama-baby is fragile."

She'd have snorted if Tamahome didn't instead.

Her lips pressed into a line as she watched Nuriko go to another horse. Initially, she had the thought that Nuriko didn't seem to want to engage once someone actually turned around her unpleasantness back _at_ her...

But then again, if it was Hotohori doing it, no one in their right minds challenged an emperor right in front of them.

_Well...it is good to be king. Or emperor. As the case may be._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

For once, Nuriko was actually well mannered while everyone got ready and departed from the city. But then...she probably shouldn't have been surprised. After she'd spoken to Hotohori, he _had_ said he'd say something. If nothing was going to change, there wouldn't have been any reason to say anything, right?

...She still felt a little guilty, having someone else do something like that for her.

She tried to distract herself a little from all of that by staring out at the countryside around them instead. It wasn't like she'd never left the big city in Japan, but...even where there were less people and less civilization, it never looked _like this_. Everything was greener and browner, and the sky that had always looked startlingly blue since she'd gotten to the world was...

Bluer...

Okay, she wasn't very good at determining what it was about places that made them look and feel different. But it did! It felt the most like another world as she'd seen since maybe their first day in it. Even if they'd been stuck in the past the whole time and in a palace.

It didn't need to make sense. It was just in her head, anyway.

She huffed slightly and leaned back against Hotohori, who seemed to be able to handle the horse around her with distressing skill. Even Tamahome and Nuriko (one who she secretly expected to be better at it than Hotohori, and the other who rode alone) seemed to have difficulty leading the horses through a few points that he didn't at all.

Then again...thinking about it...he probably had some kind of royal teachers for that.

The image of Hotohori sitting in a school like she had (and would be...) back home made her scrunch her nose in discomfort. Hotohori...as a student...he was probably just like Yui. She couldn't imagine him being like she was, hopeless at their work and...easily distracted.

That was the part that made her uncomfortable. It wasn't that she had anything against her best friend! Of course she didn't! She would _never._ It was just...the idea that Hotohori and Yui were probably the same kind of student, and had the same kind of priorities, and would bond over the ways they would study that were totally _not_ the way she did...

She coughed abruptly to cut short that train of thought. "Did anyone pack any snacks?"

Somewhere behind her, Yui made an exasperated noise. Hotohori, on the other hand, acknowledged her question as the legitimate one it was. "We did pack sufficient food supplies to make the trip. They should be...on Nuriko's horse."

Her lips pursed in discomfort despite her better sense. Even if it wasn't like Nuriko could do the same now (at least until she came back, she wasn't going to be Nuriko's handmaid anymore, Yui's health was more important), she was still the only one among them who had a history of withholding meals.

But it wasn't like that was _really_ going to happen this time.

Still, the woman rode pretty far ahead of them. She huffed. "We should have packed food with each of us..."

"Then you'd just eat a third of all of our food on the first day." And that was Yui, looking too amused for saying such _rude_ things to her friend. At least she seemed back to normal.

Other than being rude.

...Which she was, sometimes, if Miaka were being honest.

She glared over at her friend. "I know how to ration food!"

_Tamahome snorted at her!_

"Perhaps we can redistribute the food when we make camp tonight." Hotohori's level tone cut through the conversation before she could retaliate against the warrior who _betrayed_ her and took Yui's side instead. (Some warrior, siding against the priestess he was supposed to protect!)

...Well, it worked, regardless. Much as she'd like to respond to Tamahome, the mention of camp was more important. She turned as best as she could on the horse without falling off (an act she only attempted just because she felt pretty secure with how Hotohori kept her stable and caged on the horse anyway), but still couldn't quite see Hotohori's face. "When do we make camp?"

He glanced to the sky. "A few hours yet. Once the sun goes down, the terrain will be too uneven to risk horses traveling across it."

"Not to mention the bandits that probably rove around this place." Tamahome's expression made it seem like he thought just bringing them up might summon them somehow.

"Yeah...but, what kind of bandits would be dumb enough to attack an _emperor_."

Hotohori hummed from behind her. "We are not currently traveling as emperor."

_...That would be more convincing if he still didn't look just like the emperor in less fancy clothes._

"Besides that...rulers are even bigger targets anyway." Tamahome shrugged his shoulders. "There's no bigger ransom."

Yui was the one who spoke next, voicing Miaka's thoughts before she herself could. "You keep talking like you couldn't handle a bunch of mountain bandits when you took down all of the palace guards without trying."

A tiny smirk appeared on Tamahome's face. One of satisfaction, probably. Or he just...really liked that memory. A sentiment Miaka couldn't agree with, given how the day had ended with _almost being crushed_. "Yeah...well. It'd still be a pain to fight them. I don't go looking for fights just for fun, you know."

"Perhaps we will have no such difficulties." Hotohori spoke firmly, meant to end the conversation. "The first half of our journey will be relatively close to Rong-Yang, and the other to the divine mountain. It is unlikely that we will encounter any such trouble anywhere on such a path."

Tamahome glanced over at the emperor briefly, as if he wanted to say something, and then huffed and urged the horse onward. "Well, come on then. Let's get to that divine mountain quickly."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Despite his (well founded and not nearly as naive as his emperor) concerns, they really didn't encounter anything for the rest of the day. Here and there the wildlife became unnaturally silent, and he was certain they were about to be attacked...but then nothing happened and sound resumed. Presumably it must have been a predator instead, wary of their group size.

The potential of something big and dangerous out there didn't make him happy that once nightfall came they didn't have a ready shelter to hunker down in for the night. Even if, in all fairness, Nuriko would most likely be able to tear any animal apart with her bare hands if it threatened her.

In all fairness, he wasn't sure she'd _do that_ if it threatened anyone other than herself or the emperor.

He huffed and frowned, planting his hands on his hips once everyone was properly dismounted and the horses were tied. "...I'm not sure about a fire. Considering where we are, it'll scare off anything that wants to take a bite out of us, but it might also attract bandits who happen to be passing by."

The emperor frowned and crossed his arms, thoughtful. "The largest and most dangerous creatures of these woods are day hunters."

"If that's the case, we should wait until daylight until we make a fire."

Predictably, Miaka gave an aghast cry and collapsed against a tree trunk. "But I'm _starving_!"

Yui hesitated a moment, glancing between himself and the emperor...who was probably about to agree to do the stupid thing and start a fire just to make Miaka happy. Before he could do that, however, Yui spoke up. "Oh, come on. There's plenty of dry food in here we can have tonight. You're not gonna starve."

He tried not to let out a breath of relief too obviously. If nothing else in this crazy trip to the end of the world, at least he could trust Yui to see reason and back him up on things like this.

While she made every effort in the world to leave forever as quickly as possible.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Come on, Miaka…" Yui said, grabbing her arm, and dragging her a little way from where the others were setting up camp. "Let's get some sleep."

She wasn't at all ready to stop eating, but Nuriko (she knew it!) had stopped handing out food and demanded that she needed extra sleep to 'maintain her girlish figure'. As such, she was weak enough still that she was easily dragged by her friend before she could even protest. Still... "Shouldn't we get a sleeping bag?"

"Why? it's warm enough!"

A very uncharitable thought occurred to Miaka that Yui shouldn't be allowed to determine temperature when she was the one with fever issues...but that just made her realize how much her friend _needed_ the sleep. Being selfish and demanding they stay up longer would only hurt her friend, and she'd done enough of that already getting them trapped in this world.

Despite the heavy thoughts spinning around in her head, the day's journey had been hard enough that as soon as she'd laid her head down on the pillow that Yui had reluctantly agreed to (and Tamahome had _thrown at them_ ), she fell asleep.

When her eyes next opened, the sky was black, and she could hear the rest of her party snoring. Well…Yui, Tamahome, and Nuriko, who were sprawled out on the grass, were snoring. Hotohori, who curled almost cat-like against a nearby tree made no sound at all.

It would have been eerie if she couldn't see he was breathing. As it was, it was kind of...cute.

It also wasn't helping the night go by any more quickly. She rolled over, felt a stone dig into her side, and then rolled the other way. Minutes passed, and nothing. It was pretty annoying, since she usually slept as soon as she tried to. Eventually, she found herself staring at the curled up form of Hotohori, not far away.

...It wasn't like she was thinking bad things...

but he had to be pretty warm. And he was probably more comfortable than struggling with the grass. And she wouldn't risk waking up someone like Nuriko like fighting with the saddlebags would.

Maybe it was inappropriate but...

She glanced around the camp once more. Everyone was _definitely_ asleep.

_It's not like it's a bad thing. Traveling companions huddle up all the time. I'd do it with Yui...but she needs all the rest she can get. And...besides, no one's looking, right? It won't be weird! He'll understand why! ...probably..._

Despite herself, she felt her cheeks flush a little, and she shook her head quickly.

_No, don't make it weird! It's not weird!_

...

Minutes passed.

Eventually, she gave a small sigh, and started toward him. At least deciding to do it would end her argument. And that one was _totally_ an acceptable excuse she could use that didn't mean she wanted to secretly cuddle with the emperor while everyone was asleep.

Because she definitely didn't want to do that.

Mostly.

Someone clamped a hand over her mouth from nowhere, and she screamed. Or, at least she tried.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He had woken when he heard the telltale sounds of something in the forest. He slid one eye partially open to scan the clearing he was in, as much as he'd assured Tamahome and the others that there was little to no danger to be found in this part of the kingdom...he wasn't naive enough to rule things such as roving criminals or dangerous animals out completely. The camp was still. Everyone was asleep…with the exception of Miaka, who was sitting upright, deep in contemplation.

 _What is she doing awake now?_ He thought, puzzled. _Is she the one who made the sounds?_ But that was unlikely, as she didn't appear to have moved, other than to sit up.

But she did keep staring at him. Yes, she glanced around the camp once in a while, as if checking to see if anyone was looking at her, but primarily she stared at him. Which was...strange. Perhaps not a bad thing entirely, but strange. If she kept staring at him, it seemed unlikely that she had also been woken by what he heard, or she would undoubtedly spend more time looking around the camp than at him.

_What…is she doing?_

Before he could begin to consider asking her, a form leapt out of the bushes and clamped a hand around Miaka's mouth. This he saw quite clearly, as the moment the form had appeared he had already gotten to his feet and snatched up his sword with a cry of warning. While he sped toward her, the creature moved with a speed unnatural.

The foul creature quickly pulled Miaka up into the path of his strike, and he had no choice but to deflect his blow at the last moment.

"The Priestesss iss oursss now!" The thing, for it did not have the face of a human, hissed, edging backward.

"Release her _immediately!_ " He cried, clenching his sword tightly, seeking out an angle which he could attack it without risking Miaka. Simply going for speed wasn't acceptable, as it's disturbing dexterity would almost certainly end in his accidentally wounding her instead.

"Ssay goodbye!"

"Mfll Mfllhmme!" Miaka cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"Miaka!" He cried, lunging toward her. He only passed though her as she faded away. " _Miaka!_ "

As the darkness echoed with nothing but his own voice, he found his strength fled him. With a heavy crash, he fell to his knees as his sword clattered to the grass in front of him. _It...can't..._ _  
_

"Your Highness…"

Of course, they would be awake now. That they weren't awake before should have disturbed him more than it did. But it didn't matter. They were too late. _He_ was too late.

When he turned to see who was speaking to him, he did not know if he tried to appear intimidating or pathetic. By the look of pity that flashed in Yui Hongo's eyes, it was more of the latter that he appeared.

"They left this." She said, handing him a folded note.

Tentatively, he unfolded it and read the barely legible words scrawled on it.

_If you want to see the priestess again,_

_Come to city of Tai-Tu by next sundown_

_Otherwise, her goodbye is forever_

That last line caused a surge of rage within him such as he had never felt before, and he crunched up the note as if he were wringing the life out it, _willing_ it to be that if he crushed the note enough, it would crush the soul of the author of it, too. Perhaps it would have been wise to keep the note intact, to seek out whose handwriting it belonged to. It may have provided some help in locating Miaka before time was up, and in seizing whoever had _dared_ to lay a hand on the priestess of Suzaku. If nothing else, perhaps another one of the warriors might be able to discern something of it that he could not.

He tore the letter to shreds.


	9. Awakening Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was pretty sure by this point if he was going to kill her at the end of her speech he'd already be planning to do it, though, so. Tamahome was kind of...slow on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: It's important to remember that the color swatches for these characters follow the official Watase art/manga covers, not the anime. There are, sadly, no color-coded Suzaku warriors here.

They'd lost their horses. She wasn't sure how, but at the moment she was ruffled enough to blame Nuriko whether or not it was really the fault of the people who kidnapped Miaka letting the horses free first or not. Maybe it was the latter, given that even a quick search of the nearby area had revealed no sign of the horses at all...but she wasn't feeling very charitable anyway.

The emperor didn't look any more pleasant, even if he seemed outwardly more civil than she felt. No matter how composed he seemed to act, no matter how he would phrase his demands and orders as if they were the most reasonable decisions in the world... he emanated a dangerous and deadly intent far greater than any she'd felt from Nuriko.

That kind of thing worried her from the person who'd asserted command of a rescue mission. People who weren't capable of being rational couldn't make good decisions...and making bad decisions could get her friend killed in a strange world on a mission just to _protect her_.

There was no way she'd allow herself to live with that guilt. No way. She'd rescue Miaka if it was the last thing she did.

Which it might be, if her suspicions about the emperor's mindset at that moment were true. And she suspected she was, because their other two companions kept sending concerned and worried looks his way whenever they weren't in his line of sight.

_But it's not like it'll be easy to deal with him if he has. Emperors were never known for taking disagreements well..._

" _Damn it_!"

She jumped. Of all the people to break the silence, she hadn't expected it to be _Tamahome_ who did it. Especially not with the strength of agitation present in his voice. He was usually pretty cautious when it came to _actually_ endangering himself. Or...maybe that was an attribute she'd assigned to him to make herself feel better about his weak protests to Nuriko.

She wasn't the only one startled by his outburst: all eyes turned to Tamahome, and all movement stopped. Hotohori in particular looked very less than pleased.

"Look, at this rate we'll _never_ make that deadline." He spoke quickly, to keep either Nuriko or the emperor from forming whatever statements it looked like they were about to make in response. "At least not without _horses_. That village is _too far_ to cross this kind of terrain on foot in a day!"

The emperor's look was _withering_. Actually withering! Honestly...she had no idea how he achieved it, as subtle as it was, but she actually felt herself wilt a little and it wasn't even directed at her. _Really...that's the kind of a look only an emperor learns._

The idea that looks couldn't kill must have made an exception for ancient Chinese emperors.

Tamahome didn't actually fall over dead on the spot, but he looked pretty pale, like it was a close thing. "...All I'm saying is that we need horses. There's a village not far off. If we go to that one..."

"Unacceptable." The emperor turned around and began walking again. "The village is in the opposite direction."

"We'll make the time back with the horses!"

"No."

"You're not _thinking clearly_!"

The man continued to walk, forcing the rest to be left behind or follow and widen the gap between them and the other village. She was pretty sure that was sign enough that he wasn't about to listen to anything else Tamahome had to say. Or...anyone else, probably. But who else was going to speak up? Nuriko probably _hoped_ Miaka would die and...she...Yui...

"Majesty-"

" _Enough_!"

Oh.

Everyone was staring at her because that was _her_ who just shouted.

_Oh._

As it turned out, that look really _was_ worse than the ones that Nuriko gave her. "Look...Look here! I care about Miaka _more than anyone else here_." She glared at the (extremely dangerous, definitely not someone to be provoked) man in front of her, a silent challenge that he might argue his point over _her_ friend. "Miaka and I have been friends since _Kindergarten._ _No one_ knows her like I do, and no one _loves her_ like I do. If you think that I'm gonna let _anyone_ hurt her, you're _wrong_! If you think I'll let someone like _you_ do it just because you've got an army, and you think you can get away with doing anything you want, then you can _forget it_!"

Perhaps the reason why she hadn't _actually_ died from his expression was due to the confusion that had started to cloud it. Or not. Maybe he hadn't gotten around to finishing her off. It was hard to say.

But...

But she'd _definitely_ rescue Miaka before he killed her, even if he did.

"We would never-"

"You're _doing it now_!" It was less bravery than a surge of hysteric adrenaline that kept pushing her onward, pressing her luck more. "If we're going to make it to Miaka, and we _have to_ , then we need those horses. _I don't care about your stupid...stupid pride_!" She pointed at him, because she wasn't...didn't really know how else to emphasize her point. "You...you think you can just _sweep_ in and take away my friend- _my friend_ -and I'll just _let_ you do it? That's _never_ gonna happen if all you are is some arrogant _show off_!"

Tamahome edged nearer to her, and reached out as if to calm her down, or to dissuade her from saying anything more. " _Yui_..."

She was pretty sure by this point if he was going to kill her at the end of her speech he'd already be planning to do it, though, so. Tamahome was kind of...slow on that.

"If you cared about her...if you _really_ cared about _her_ , and not about whatever prideful, self-absorbed _conquest_ you've gotten yourself hung up on about marrying your _priestess_ , you'd _stop feeling sorry for yourself and do what needs to be done to save her_!" She shook her head and gripped her hands at her sides, struggling to hide the way they shook, and to rid herself of the dizziness that started to churn anew in her head from the stress of losing Miaka and the strain of dealing with the three warriors around her, and the work involved in walking all day as they had been.

"I'll never- _never_!-allow anyone who cares less about her than I do to have her! I'll never let _anyone_ hurt her! I'll never just _give up_ like this and abandon her when she needs me like _you're_ doing! And... _I'll_..." The image of the emperor, who it seemed like became less hardened and angry as she spoke...was actually getting softer and more indistinct.

Blurrier.

"... _horses_..."

She felt a wave of sickness, and heard a shout of alarm somewhere in the distance, before she lost all consciousness.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She gave a long, loud, yawn as the world returned to her.

_Whoa...I guess it really_ was _comfy...I can't even remember falling asleep!_ She thought to herself, marveling at how it felt as if she were floating in air, warm and snuggled close. Despite herself, she felt her cheeks flush slightly as she thought of him slinging an arm around her and holding her tight in his sleep.

That thought made her snap awake. _I need to get up and move before people think bad things!_

She opened her eyes quickly to give a furtive glance around the clearing. Strangely...it still seemed to be...

dark...

_Wait...this...isn't the camp._

Her eyes widened slowly as she scanned the darkness. The only light came from a dim flickering fire almost directly below her. Far below her. Where she was tied up by _ropes_ , not a very attractive male emperor. And also gagged.

_OH! That snake guy! Hotohori! Where am I?_

"So...you have awakened?" A voice whispered from the dark, like a thousand bebes rolling across satin.

"Who...are you?"

At least, she _tried_ to say that...with her gag it came out as a few muffled squeaks.

The creature seemed to understand her, however, and gave a dry laugh that made her skin crawl. It reminded her of a field full of dry and dying reeds blowing in the wind. Or perhaps it was like two sheets of really rough sandpaper rubbing against each other in the...wind. Miaka never _had_ been very good analogies.

"I am everything that will be your eventual downfall." It said in a distinctly mocking tone. "I am the bringer of everything you fear, the destroyer of everything you love, and the embodiment of everything you deny."

"Wh-what?" She garbled. "What kind of a name is that?"

The creature seemed to pointedly ignore her statement, continuing on with his monologue. "Already your friends begin to nourish the seeds of discontentment I have planted in them!They will tear each other to pieces _long_ before they will ever be able to rescue you!"

As it spoke, a hazy image of her companions shimmered into view in front of her. Yui and Hotohori glared at each other, both of them looking angrier than she'd ever seen them (well, maybe not Yui, but angrier than she'd seen her in a while). Tamahome stood between them, looking between the both of them with an expression of worry...and Nuriko looked...maybe it was irritated, in the background. She really couldn't read that woman at all.

Just as she was about to wonder exactly what was going on...Yui _collapsed_!

She gasped, about as well as one could with a gag in the way, and kicked in the air, struggling to get free and just...jump through the picture. She knew Yui had been pushing herself too hard! If she wasn't careful, that fever would come back, and out in the woods like that there would be _no way_ she'd get to help in time! "Yui!"

The figure gave a self-satisfied cackle. "Do you see? Already they begin to tear themselves apart! None of them will-"

She wasn't sure what the person was going on about, because in front of her, all three of them-Nuriko included-rushed to Yui's side. _Wait_... _Nuriko? Nuriko really cares? Did they work something out while was gone? Then again...Nuriko and Yui were only ever enemies because of me. Maybe...while I'm not there, they might actually find a way to be friends!_

_"...Hey!_ Are you listening?" The voice growled at her in irritation, a bit like some kind of fabric ripping. "Why are you looking _hopeful_? Are you _happy_ your friends are falling apart?"

She glared over at him. "They're not falling apart!" Well...Yui kind of was in a...sort of literal sense... "They're falling _together_."

"...That sounds _stupid_."

...No it didn't! It sounded great! Stupid kidnappers didn't get to decide what sounded cool!

Anyway, she was more concerned with Yui, whom Tamahome had lifted carefully onto his shoulders. They were walking in the opposite direction that all (except Hotohori) of them had been facing now. Were they going back to the capital? Would Yui be okay long enough to make it? _She needed to make sure_!

"You _stupid girl_. Be less concerned with _her_ health and more with yours! If they're not here by sundown I _kill you_!"

_What-?_

She stared wide-eyed at him...and then back at the party trudging _away_ from her. "Aw, _come on_ , can't _one person stay_?"

Naturally, the gag muffled her words so completely that even if shouting loud enough would transmit her voice through the portal...they couldn't possibly understand them.

Maybe, though...if he had put a gag on her, it must have meant that they _could_ maybe hear her, right? And if they did, then one of them could stick it out and come rescue her! But...her hands were tied, and it wasn't like she could convince him to take off her gag to let her do something like use the bathroom.

Maybe she could just...chew through it. If she had a really long time.

But... _ugh_...it didn't taste good. And it was made of some thick fabric.

Suddenly, in the silence that descended upon the darkness around her, her stomach growled.

... _And I still haven't had breakfast..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The sun crossed the sky at a steady, slow pace, and gradually dropped down to the horizon. It taunted him. For a while it seemed not to move, to crawl so slowly they might _actually_ have been able to make up the time they lost back tracking. Its steady progress refused to ever stop completely, however...and it was very nearly beneath the hills.

He grit his teeth in frustration. They pushed their horses as quickly as they dared through the mountainous terrain and the forest. Tamahome lagged behind, careful not to push so hard that the weakened form of Miaka's friend might fall off and harm herself in the journey...but even he himself could not beat the sun.

_Of course...there was never any chance that we could make up the time lost to the village. And now..._

He shook his head, gripping the reins tightly, urging the foaming horse onward in blind desperation. _I won't allow it! As long as I remain...she will not come to harm!_

_"Suzaku..."_ He whispered through his gritted teeth, voice ripped immediately away by the wind. " _Grant us speed! Just one more opportunity!_ "

Abruptly, he found himself plunged into absolute darkness.

Startled, the horse reared violently and sent him sprawling unceremoniously onto his back. As there was no muffled laughter or groans of pain-or any other sort of sound-he concluded he alone had been thrown...where ever he was.

_Where am I...?_

A female voice cut through the silence.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She was arguing with the creature over the very real possibility of her starving to death before he could try to kill her when a lone rider burst into the darkness in a blinding flash of reddish light. The figure's horse immediately panicked and ejected its rider rather rudely onto the hard floor. After being freed of its burden, the horse bolted into the darkness somewhere, leaving the disgruntled person to pick themselves up.

_Wait...that's..._

" _Hotohori!_ " She gasped, then mentally cursed once more the filthy rag that hindered her ability to speak.

Still, he instantly looked up at her. "Miaka!"

"Get me down! Get me down! Get! Me! _Down_!"

Of course, her words came out incoherent gibberish, but he seemed to get the gist of what she meant, and ran toward her.

"Not sso quickly!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yui gave a shocked cry as the emperor and his horse vanished in a poof of black smoke "D-did...you _see_ that?"

"No. Because we are all _blind_." Tamahome retorted from behind her.

She was willing to accept his sass just this one time because when she'd woken up after her...dizzy spell...he had been carrying her so carefully that she almost hadn't wanted to let him know she'd woken up. It was nice. But that was a concern for another time...a time that would probably never come. Especially now. "Where did he go?"

"Do I look like the mystical-type to _you_?" Tamahome replied with an irritated growl.

His forehead glowed with a magical symbol and he was destined from birth to protect a divine priestess from another world...so...what his definition of 'mystical-type' was seemed a little...strict.

She didn't get a chance to say that, though, before they were launched into darkness.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"If you want to ssave her..." It hissed from the darkness, only a pair of gleaming golden eyes represented the voice in the gloom. "Then you must firsst run the gauntlet!"

With a loud snap, the area between he and Miaka erupted into towering, greenish flames, which quickly receded to either side of a narrow pathway littered with the most treacherous and terrible traps imaginable. At the end of the path of horrors, Miaka was suspended in air by a rope of ambiguous origin. Under her was a strange device that displayed the number **1000**. Said number was lessening rapidly, as the letters flipped over themselves, progressively smaller.

_This...this vile thing...it must have clawed its way from the very depths of hell!_ He thought in horrified revulsion, transfixed by the sight of the so-named 'gauntlet'.

Miaka screamed something up above him, and he winced. ...It was not a very pleasant scream, that one. In fact it sounded quite upset. At him.

" _Hello_ over there?" The voice hissed suddenly."When that counter reachess zero, rope breaks and girl fallss to _doom_!"

Another anguished (infuriated) scream. Now she was _really_ getting riled up. And he most certainly could not afford to delay any longer. No matter _how_ vile the creature's traps happened to be. Scowling at the bubbling mud-pit in front of him, he made a running leap at it, hoping his warrior-abilities would allow him to cross it in one bound.

At some point, a slight miscalculation had been made.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Miaka gasped in shock when the 'course' was revealed by the creature. There were three stages, a large mud-pool, a corridor thick with flying and swinging blades, and a shallow but wide pit of snakes.

Of course, she doubted her would-be rescuer had yet noticed any of it aside from the first stage. If he had, he most certainly was only _concerned_ with the first. His dark eyes were wide with horror and disgust as he stared at the bubbling cesspool of filth barring his path. His skin was unnaturally pale, and his expression was almost scandalized. From where she was, it almost looked like he was even trembling in terror or repulsion.

_I don't actually believe it. My rescue is going to be ruined by his never-ending narcissism!_

"Hey! Cut out the narcissism and _rescue_ me already!"

From the flicker of discomfort that flashed across his face, he seemed to understand her meaning, despite the annoying cloth in her way. Which was good, because what kind of a prince (emperor) in shining armor (robes) failed to rescue the princess (priestess) because of a little mud? (She was pretty sure that was essentially what the priestess-warrior relationship boiled down to in situations like this one, right?)

Really hot...terrible...awful looking mud?

A hissing cauldron of greenish acid materialized under Miaka without warning, and a creepy ticking sound began to echo through the darkness. She...had a suspicion what it was, but the voice helpfully confirmed it for her only a moment later. Frantically, she looked around for the counter, wondering how long she had. After a few moments, she identified what had to be the timer-thing, but it was angled so that she could not see the time on it. _  
_

_Rude._

" _Come on!_ Hurry up and save me!" She might _actually_ only have thirty seconds left, after all. Since she wasn't allowed to see her own count down. The frustration made her a little irritable. That, and her lack of breakfast, anyway.

He glanced up at her for an instant, then scowled at the pool as if it were his worst enemy, before making a dashing leap at it.

With something of a whimper, he splashed into it halfway across.

She winced. He wouldn't be letting that one go for a while, probably.

It what had to be record time, he crossed the remainder of the filth, and scrambled out onto the shore. Then, as if he had extra time, attempted to brush off some of the excess filth that now covered him completely.

She was a little tempted to yell at him again. He wasn't winning many 'future husband' points with his struggle with saving her or avoiding getting dirty. Not...not that she was counting up points...or seriously thinking about...any of that... _  
_

...He'd paused in front of the second challenge now, carefully coiling his hair up into a compact bun.

" _What_ do you think you are _doing_?" She growled. _Not winning any points at all! None! When I get out of this I'm going to throw mud balls at him! I...I...maybe I won't care after all that I'm going home! If he cares more about his hair than me...!  
_

With a careless shrug, he dove into the blades.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Her terrified scream almost made him stumble. Every time a blade swung even within a foot of him, it would ring out across the darkness. It was...distressing. Even if there was a part of his heart that warmed in a way that it hadn't in...perhaps ever, to know that she was so concerned. That part was quickly and completely overwhelmed by the tugs of concern that came from that sound.

He glanced up at her through the darkness, frowning. _From now on...I'll make sure she never has to be so upset again..._

He was about to say something to calm her, but her eyes widened nearly more than what would be humanly possible, and gave a distinctly different scream than her previous ones. It did not take great insight to understand what she was attempting to communicate,given the circumstances. Immediately, he ducked to the ground, missing a rather large blade which had come loose and spun wildly through the air.

Determined now, he crossed the rest of the distance with a few more graceful twists and rolls. None of the other blades even came close enough to him to rouse Miaka's vocal concern. Really, if rabble like this expected to make a course challenging for a Suzaku warrior and emperor, they should have made it far more difficult.

He scoffed with some disdain as he approached the final obstacle.

_Snake pit? That is the best they could do for a final test?_

Drawing his sword, he leisurely stepped into the pit. As the ground began to rumble, he quickly realized that action was the _worst_ one he could have taken.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He groaned slightly as consciousness returned to him. _Where am I? The last thing I remember...  
_

The sun had been just about to drop beneath the horizon, they'd come to a stop, paralyzed by confusion and the sudden loss of the emperor, and then...nothing. Just...darkness?

Now...a room. A small, earthen room he had no recollection of, with a single door not far from him.

A voice echoed from the shadows eerily, although the room appeared empty. "So...you are awake?"

"Who are you? Where am I?" He asked, glancing around for the source of the voice.

"If you wish to save the priestess, you must face your fears, and travel through these rooms-without touching anything other than the dirt floor, the walls,and the doors."

He grit his teeth. If this one had the priestess, then this must have been the person he was looking for. And possibly the one who kidnapped the emperor. And that meant he had no time and no interest in any challenges the person might set forth. "Where are Yui and Nuriko? What did you _do_ with them?"

"Wait...aren't you worried about your priestess or emperor?"

He frowned, pushing himself up to his feet. "If His Majesty is here, I don't need to worry about the priestess' welfare." He'd been the one to jump in the way of her most recent attempt to get herself killed, and also one or two of her previous ones. It was definitely someone else's turn.

That, and he had full confidence in the skill he'd heard the emperor possessed. Even if he wasn't sure about this magical thing the person had going on. But someone with the education and experience that an emperor would have...probably could handle it better.

If he kept his cool.

Which was admittedly a big if.

"Fool! They are both in my grasp! You should fear for _both_. I could kill either one at my leisure."

To _that..._ he scoffed. "Someone who has to rely on tricks and _hiding in the shadows_ couldn't keep His Majesty captive long." Granted, he did that disappearing thing to the emperor...but one celestial warrior to another, he had to have the skills to get out of something like that, right?

"Perhaps...but he gave himself up willingly."

"...What?" _Even he couldn't be blinded enough by his weird crush to think that'd work, could he...?_

"Once I proved I was willing to kill anyone I pleased to prove my point, he was _very_ cooperative." The voice echoed a laugh around the room. "I expect you will be, too."

A chill of dread washed through him. _Kill_...? _He couldn't have...Nuriko...?_

"What...are you talking about?"

"Oh, don't be so concerned. I hurt no one of importance...you would be of little use to me if I killed one of your pathetic warriors." It chortled. "I merely rid myself of a useless and annoying little blonde one...she should have known when to be silent."

He felt the heat in his blood seep away. "You... _Y-you..._ " Crying in fury, Tamahome leaped through the air at the wall he...mostly figured the voice was probably behind, _ogre_ symbol lighting the room in a bright reddish glow. He collided violently with earth, sending cracks shooting across the rooms, and great clouds of dust and dirt into the air...but no person stood where he had aimed.

"Do you want to kill the priestess, too?" The voice tsked. "She is replaceable after all, and I will not hesitate to remove her as well. She is quite annoying."

As if to prove its point, the wall only a few feet away from Tamahome shimmered a moment, then formed a hazy image. A rusty cage stood against gray stone walls, and encased his four companions. Miaka was sobbing into the ruined coat of the emperor, who seemed to be rocking her gently, while he stared silently down at the crumpled form of a blonde girl. Nuriko strained against the bars to no effect.

The blood that stained the torn clothes of the crumpled figure made it almost unrecognizable...but the blonde hair could belong to only one girl.

If the voice spoke, he couldn't hear it. If the impact of the wall still trembled through his leg, he couldn't feel it. If his heart still existed...it wasn't within him any longer. The sight of her...crumpled to the ground, badly beaten, broken...

He felt cold. Empty.

_Furious._

"Yui..." He did not even realize he had spoken, but the name echoed hollowly through the room all the same. It felt so cold...so wrong...so unbearably warm and alive for it to be the name of a girl who was gone.

It was much too wonderful and _special_ a name to be _gone_.

She was much too special to be gone.

As abruptly as it left him, his heart returned, aflame in fury and determination, and he turned eyes glowing with undisguised hatred at the voice. "I'll play your game. I'll _win_. And then I'll _kill you at the end of it._ "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

When the mass of snakes began to coil about itself and rear into a massive basilisk-like form, Miaka's horrified screams had no difficulty translating through the gag.

_This...could pose a difficulty._

As the creature finished forming, it narrowed its 'eyes' menacingly. "Did you think you were done?" It gave a hissing laugh. "Not nearly! You will never reach your priesstesss in time, and I will feast on your flessh for dinner!"

"We shall see." He said simply, gripping his sword tightly. No matter how imposing or impossible the enemy...he would not fail. One thing he was certain of: he would _not_ allow Miaka to die. Not now. Not ever.

Apparently dissatisfied by the response, the snake gave an angry hiss, and lunged at him, gigantic fangs bared and rattling. Although the creature was huge, and indisputably dangerous, it was not speedy. As such, it was not a difficulty for Hotohori to make a deft rolling dodge to the right, and slice through a chunk of the mass of snakes.

Several snakes fell lifeless to the floor, and the Basilisk-creature hissed in pain, but it was otherwise unaffected, and turned with a previously undisplayed speed to lunge at him once again. Of course.

_This could_ definitely _pose a problem..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

At some time she had been torn from the others, and was now free-falling through darkness. She was not quite sure if the constant screaming was coming from her own throat or someone else, but it had been going on for some time now, and she hadn't actually _seen_ anyone since she'd been on the horse. Even if it _was_ pretty dark, so _Nuriko_ might only be a few feet ahead of her right then.

"Young Lady, partner and friend of the Priestess." The voice materialized out of the darkness without warning.

"Who are you?" Yui questioned, forcing down her rising panic.

Of course, the screaming _would_ have to stop as soon as she spoke.

"If you are truly friend to her, then you shall have to defeat _me._ "

It occurred belatedly to Yui that she had ceased falling, and was now standing on some form of ground in the darkness. That made her feel more dizzy than the falling did, because it meant she hadn't felt landing at all. Had she even been falling?

She shook her head, grounding herself. So to speak.

"...Defeat you?" She said warily. "How so?"

A laugh that Yui was certain was not her own echoed through the darkness as a figure materialized from the gloom. Malevolent eyes met hers, and Yui's heart nearly seized up in her chest.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She had long ago stopped screaming, and was staring in slack-jawed awe as her would-be savior danced fluidly around the pit, slashing at the monstrous creature with every chance he got.

_He's...amazing..._ She thought distantly. _Like a shining hero in one of those fantasy novels Yui reads..._

The fact that she was _in_ just such a fantasy novel did not occur to her. After all, technically she'd started reading it first, Yui just...caught up.

The shallow pit was quickly beginning to fill with dead snakes, and already the basilisk had slimmed considerably, but neither fighter seemed to allow such trivial things to perturb them. Hotohori raced across the uneven and slippery pile-up of serpents as easily as softly carpeted floors, and the basilisk pushed onward as if the layers of dead reptiles had not originally come from itself.

"You can do it! Kick its _butt_!"

She was not sure if Hotohori understood her meaning, but the basilisk certainly did, as it turned an irritated glare on her. It did not get any further time to react to her cheer, as her rescuer took the opportunity to slice a sizable chunk out of the monster's 'belly'. The creature gave a pained cry, and quickly turned its attention back to its attacker.

Moving faster than Miaka could have imagined, the beast launched itself through the air at her hero. Her scream could not even escape her lips before the two combatants went tumbling into the deadly mess of blades behind them.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

An unmistakable scream pierced the air as the creature's writhing mass of snakes slammed into him, sending both he and the unholy creature sailing into the death trap he had crossed only minutes before. The creature seemed to have transformed in the flight, forming clawed arms and legs, and now resembled more the Qu-Dong god, Seiryuu, than a snake.

The new creature seemed oblivious to the blades slicing all around and through it, intent only on using its fangs and newly-formed claws in an attempt to shred him into ribbons. After only a few moments of struggling against the creatures weight and attacks, it became painfully obvious that he would be required to find a way to defeat it quickly.

Whenever he attempted to dodge one of the beast's attacks, he would find himself thwarted by the constant swinging blades, and each time he resorted to parrying the creature, the blows from the creature would be so strong, he feared his teeth might shatter from the agonizing vibrations that reverberated through him. Several times now he'd been forced to move into those blows rather than be sliced in half by nearby blades, as well. Combined, the two traps were far more deadly than he'd first realized.

He knew his strength would only hold back a few more of the creature's attacks, and then he would be helpless. That was not an option. Which meant he had no choice but to risk the blades rather than take any further strikes from the massive creature.

Already his once-fine clothes were in bloody tatters that hung limply across him, as he danced with the creature around the trap. It seemed there was no part of him that was not allowing his lifeblood to run freely to the dirt beneath his feet. His vision was beginning to haze from the pain, exhaustion, and lack of blood, and his movements were already slowing. If he didn't finish it quickly, he would lack the ability to do so.

_No! I will not die until I save Miaka!_

With a surge of determination, and perhaps a bit of desperation, he lunged through the trap to close the distance between him an the nigh-immortal dragon, parrying and slashing at the creature, pushing it back toward the pit with little more than sheer ferocity. The creature seemed to realize that it was being herded, and that it would lose its greatest advantage if he were able to move freely, and fought back with a hellish fury, latching its venomous claws into his arms and legs in an attempt to halt him, and snapping its great maw at his face.

Unable to both prevent the sharp claws from sinking into his skin and push the creature forward, he could feel the toxic liquid already surging through his veins, as the fanged-claws sunk deeply into him. If his tutors had taught him correctly, he only had a few more minutes before it would reach his heart, and he would no longer be able to save Miaka.

_Curse this beast! Suzaku...please give me just a little more strength!_

He did not feel any immediate surge of strength, but without warning,five of the largest blades roaming the course converged simultaneously on the creature, slicing it cleanly into segments. With a cry of furious disbelief, the creature collapsed into a mass of lifeless serpents.

His breath came in labored pants as he stood finally triumphant over the creature's remains, and he found himself struggling to use his sword to support himself, as his arms and legs weakened from the advancing venom.

_Finally...it is over...now._

_Miaka..._

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The two seemed to struggle in the death trap for an eternity, Miaka wincing or yelping every time he would fail to dodge a deadly blade, or it seemed the creature was about to pounce him. He was fighting a losing battle. Even she could recognize that, every time a blade would slice through his smooth skin, it would weaken him just a bit more...but the blades seemed to do nothing to the horrible creature.

Already crimson liquid glisten all across her rescuer, and it seemed his greatest battle at the moment was the fight to remain standing. How he could bear the pain that had to be radiating from every part of him, Miaka could not imagine. The last time she had simply broken her ankle, she thought she would faint from the pain of it, and Yui had to carry her the entire way to the hospital. And then back home.

Yet...there he was...still fighting, still pushing himself, wounded and injured in ways she could barely even imagine experiencing, pale and crimson, fighting as if all of his own injuries didn't matter. Maybe...in his determined dedication...he didn't think they did.

But they _did_. Sheer determination couldn't just erase all those wounds!

_He'll die...he's going to die and it will be my fault!_

" _Stop it!_ " She screamed through her gag, as the desperation within her finally imploded, and shattered her last reserves of composure. "He _can't_ die! He just _can't!_ Please...please let him live!"

She was not sure who she was speaking to, but she felt a surge of heat surround her at her words, and as suddenly as the battle began, the nightmarish creature finally succumbed to the blades of death.

As a cheer formed in her mind, she realized she was no longer suspended in air. In fact, the ropes were nowhere to be seen, and she was plummeting downward into the spitting cauldron.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Miaka!_

Numbers were still displayed on the countdown, but the rope that had held her was in flames.

He did not pause to wonder how the situation had arisen. Instead, he leaped out of the trap-just barely managing to dodge one blade that had been aimed at his head-and raced toward the falling form of Miaka, his injuries and fatigue briefly forgotten.

_She will not die!_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

In her state of abject terror, she was not certain how long she screamed, or how far she fell, before something caught her, and she was on solid ground once more-or rather,cradled in warm arms. _Actually_ cradled in warm arms this time. In comparison, she wasn't sure how she'd ever thought the ropes had been him at all.

As she forced herself to open one eye, her savior was just removing her gag. Her eyes immediately found the chestnut ones of Hotohori. His hair stuck to his face and his skin was slick with blood and sweat. Deep gashes ran across his arms and chest, oozing dark blood down to the ground, and his lovely suit had been reduced to filthy rags.

The arms curled around her trembled only slightly, and the intense expression of his lovely eyes had a glazed sheen to them, that made her heart clench into a painful twist.

"Miaka..." His voice was tired and strained, but she could hear the traces of relief and joy through his voice as if he had screamed it.

"Hotohori..." She whimpered softly, placing a hand on his soft cheek. He winced almost imperceptibly at her touch, but his eyes softened in appreciation regardless of it. "...Why?"

He smiled down at her. "Haven't I told you? I...will never let you die, Miaka."

She shook her head hard, fighting down a desperate sob of frustration. "B-but _look at you!_ What if you had died?"

He closed his eyes slowly, and his smile turned sad. "My life would mean nothing if it meant trading yours for it."

She shook her head quickly. " _Yes it does!_ You have a country that needs you!"

"It needs you far more."

With an anguished sob, she wilted against her wounded warrior, and wept into his chest. "You...you can't die, Hotohori! Please...I don't know what I'll _do_ if you die!"

A firm hand grasped her chin and pulled her face upward, and warm lips pressed against hers. Her heart skipped, and for a brief moment she felt dizzy like she was falling all over again. "I will not die yet, Miaka. This...I promise."

She could barely make out his face through the darkness and her tears as she looked up at him, but she did not need to see him to know the sad expression that was in his eyes. She expected to be more...anxious, maybe shy. After all, he'd just...taken her first kiss like nothing. And she was about to kiss him back. For some reason, it didn't even occur to her to be bothered, or to think about it at all.

She just...

Noticed something that made her pause.

He blinked in surprise when she froze suddenly. "Miaka?"

"H-Hotohori..."

He frowned in suspicion, and glanced around the darkness for enemies, before looking back to her questioningly. "What is it, Miaka?"

"Your...hair..."


	10. Come Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tasted of blood and something acidic and tangy. It wasn't like him at all. It wasn't how she imagined a kiss was supposed to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done with the updates and edits! From here, new chapters will actually be new! Exciting.

A headache. That's the first thing to come to Nuriko's mind. There's a pun in there somewhere, but the warrior had no sense of humor to spare at the moment. One moment they'd all been riding, and the next there'd been...darkness. Laughter, Nuriko recalled that _laughter_ even more than the darkness, in fact. Now...a headache. The warrior groaned and stood, stumbling a few steps in the relative darkness (though it wasn't nearly as total as the darkness from earlier) of whatever cell Nuriko had woken up in. _Still alive_... Whatever else this creature or person wanted, it'd kept them all alive. That was something.

The soft sound of a silk clad foot tapped against stone, as a figure materialized from the gloom ahead, silhouette first, and then all at once revealed in dim light.

_That's_...!

"Liujuan." The figure, nearly an identical one to the warrior, smiled. Yet...not _her_ smile. Not the smile that Nuriko remembered, the one the warrior so desperately clung to even now. This...this one was cold and cruel, a twisted reflection of the old smile, as if seen through a broken mirror. "I've been waiting for you."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You're _kidding_ me!" It wasn't that Yui didn't _want_ to help Miaka, hardly that! It was just... _her_? Defeat something like _this_? She...didn't even have a _weapon_ , what could she do to it?

The creature laughed. At least, that's what Yui assumed it did. The body language-such as a hulking golem like this could have-suggested laughter. The hissing rumble that came from it sounded nothing like any sort of laughter she'd heard before...but the way it lifted its head and shook its shoulders...it had to be laughing.

"Am I, friend of the Priestess? Will you test me? I hold the key to the life your friend in my hand. My conditions are my own to decide, and mine alone. Are you so willing to put that to the test?"

"I never said that!" Of course she wouldn't. After all...this person-these people-this _thing_ , whatever it was that had her friend, had managed to kidnap Miaka right out from the middle of them...and she'd seen first-hand the sort of power it must possess. To be able to just...swipe people up from one place and drop them into nothingness elsewhere without warning? No...of course she couldn't risk Miaka's life on hoping they might not follow through on their threat. Especially if this was just a delaying tactic to keep them away from Miaka.

And yet...at the same time...what was she supposed to do? She wasn't one of Miaka's warriors, she didn't have special powers or even any weapons. She just...studied. Studying was the only thing she was really good at anyway. Miaka was the one creative (and a little bit crazy) enough to come up with an answer to a situation like this.

_What would Miaka do now? ...Other than wait for her new personal body guards to come rescue her..._

"Perhaps the situation isn't _serious_ enough for you then?" It straightened, gaining almost a full terrifying foot in height. "Tell me, would you be more motivated to show your support for your dear _friend_ should her fate be matched by that of the warrior called 'Tamahome'?"

" _No!_ " She knew as soon as the outburst escaped her...that was the worst reaction she could have given.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Your...your..."

His chestnut eyes, still hazy with the venom and blood loss widen slowly as he no doubt processes her words and gaze. Perhaps...perhaps it's best he doesn't look in the shape to try to look for himself. From where she is, now she can see the trail of hair that followed after the path he took to save her.

That carefully wound bun-what had mostly fallen out during the fight-it'd placed all of his hair in the right place. Or...or rather...in the worst. When he'd jumped for her, he must have...

What remained of the color in his cheeks faded, and for a few moments he simply stared down at her-well, not _at_ her, really...in the shock, she didn't think he saw anything at all. Simply...felt the lack of weight of all of his long locks now that she'd pointed it out. In his rush to save her from falling-a _dirty trick_ , when he'd succeeded in his mission!-he must have...must have missed one of those swinging blades just enough. His long, perfectly maintained hair...his _beloved_ hair!

_What have I done...?_

"H-Hotohori..." Her vision began to blur with tears all over again, and she lifted a shaky hand to the remnants of his hair. Less than shoulder-length, and hopelessly crooked, now, if they made it even, he'd have about as much as Yui. And...all because...because she couldn't rescue herself? "I'm so-"

His hand clasped gently over her cheek, and he shook his head, offering a faint, sad smile. "A small price to pay. I would...pay any price...to see..." His voice weakened and broke, and with a sickening suddenness, his arms fell away from her, devoid of their usual strength.

"Ho- _Hotohori!_ "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" _Tch_. You'll have to do better than _this_ if you think you're going to stand a _chance_ of surviving the day." The first 'trial' that stood before him...was nothing. Another empty room like the one he'd started in, except this one had golden ryos scattered all across the ground. Clearly, this was meant to be some sort of play on his 'greed'...but if this _monster_ thought it would distract him with something so stupid and _pointless_ after _murdering Yui_ , going from room to room would be as simple as walking from one end of them to another.

Which was just fine with him: his goal wasn't the end of this course, his goal was getting his hands on the person at the end and _tearing them apart_.

As he began to take his first step, determination and fury burning brightly through his _'ogre'_ sign, the kidnapper had the audacity to _laugh_. "Oh, I don't _think so_. As thick as you are, I don't think you'll make it through the first room."

He growled in irritation and was about to respond-tempted to try attacking the walls again just to see if it might be hidden in one of those-when something caught his eye. Just the barest flicker, but...he gasped and froze, foot hovering barely an inch over where he'd meant to place it.

Directly on gold. All of the gold had been painted and scattered with dirt. The dirt, in the mean time, had been sprayed with some sort of golden paint. In his haste and anger, he'd almost missed it and walked right into the trap! Quickly, before he could lose his balance or be tripped, he shifted his stance and hopped to the nearest patch of golden-dirt instead. Of course... _of course_ that was much more difficult than stepping on the 'dirt'. The patches were only the size of single ryo, after all. It took supreme balance to stay put without wavering into the clutter on the ground, and would take even greater calculations to ensure he could safely jump ahead to the next spot.

_Damn! I almost..._

"Ah, well...too soon spoke." The voice tutted. "No matter. You'll be given no more free tips. How do you suppose you'll make it through the next without an _angel on your shoulder?_ " The voice _cackled_ , and then faded once more to silence. Which was fine. He was in no mood to _speak_ to it, and he had no doubt it was still watching him all the same, ensuring he played by its rules.

Trick foiled, of course, and with its hand shown, it would be no difficulty at all for him now. Nimble as he was, it wasn't as difficult as the voice obviously would have liked for him to cross the room now, hopping from tiny island of dirt to tiny island until he reached the door. Now that he knew the sort of tricks and tactics to look out for, he wouldn't be so easily tricked again.

_I'm coming...please...if you're still there, Yui, please just hold out a little longer..._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" _No_!"

The figure laughed, a wonderful, musical laugh of a child...completely wrong and out of place in the adult body it originated from, and reached out to touch their identical hair. "Oh, my dearest Liujuan, isn't this what it was all for? Everything you've ever done? The penance you serve, isn't it _for me_? Aren't you ready to finally be _forgiven_?"

Nuriko recoiled away from the touch, and slapped away the phantom hand. "You...you're _not her_. Whatever spirit you are, you're _not her_. Get away from me!"

The woman's expression melted to something grieved and compassionate, as she reached up to place cold hands over Nuriko's cheeks. "Do you really not recognize me...? After so long...have you truly forgotten?" Tears welled in her eyes, shining even in the darkness, and a thin trail of blood tracked down from painted lips to sculpted chin. Her voice softened to barely more than an echo as she spoke. "...Have I...become...not even a memory any longer? After what you did to me...how could you _replace me_ and forget?"

_No...no...that isn't it! Everything...it's to remember her, not to forget her. And-the real her would know that!_

Wouldn't she?

The phantom dropped its head then, and began to softly weep. "...To be forgotten...is that...my fate after all, my dear Liujuan? To be replaced so easily and so quickly?"

_It's a lie. It's all a lie. This isn't Kang-Lin!_

A teardrop fell through the image of Kang-Lin, and the warrior pulled the image into as fierce an embrace as a phantom could ever allow.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_It's pointless_...

She gave a yelp of pain as she bounced across the invisible floor, knocked back by the force of the creature's counter-attack. _No matter what I do...I can't even hurt it. I'm not strong enough, and I'm never going to be, no matter how hard I try._

The great hulking creature lashed out and struck her in her abdomen, kicking her further across the nothingness. Pain lanced across her arm as she rolled at an odd angle, and she screamed, frustration and helplessness mingling with the sharp ache of her torn muscle. _How can I be so useless? I can't...even save the people I love. I can't even help. Maybe...maybe that's why Miaka has her Emperor and I..._

_Miaka always..._

An abnormally thick hand gathered up a fistful of her dress, tearing the hem of her collar as it lifted her from the floor, and she felt herself lifted up off of the 'ground'...and brought up to the creature close enough finally to see the misshapen and twisted face of...of...

"N- _Nuriko_?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

For a few moments, he thought the challenge of the second room might actually be the darkness. Expecting him to traverse and avoid obstacles without any light to see those and a strict rule not to touch them? Yeah, that sounded like the same sort of dirty trick a person-a _thing_ -like this would use.

He scoffed. With the rage and fighting spirit burning in him like this, though...the light emanating from him would be more than enough to light his path. He snarled in irritation and shook his head as he took a step forward and noted nothing in his path. Did it expect him to give up at the sight of darkness? To panic and do something stupid that would set off the trap itself? Then it seriously underestimated just how _pissed off_ he was.

"That's two rooms! How many more of these are you going to waste my time with?" He felt sick with all of his bottled up rage and impatience. He shouldn't be doing _tests_ and _puzzles_ when Yui's life...when she might be...

A whimper broke the silence of the room behind him as he touched the far door, and light flooded the room.

"B-big...big brother..."

He froze, horror slowly filtering through the heady rush of fury and self-righteousness that flooded his mind up until that voice spoke. _No..._

Another, feminine voice spoke then, weak and soft. "Y-you...you came..."

_It can't..._

His hand dropped from the door, and he stared straight ahead, transfixed, terrified to turn around and see what this... _monster_ prepared for him.

_It can't be real..._

Blood splashed across the walls and floor. His...his brothers...and his sisters...Jie-Lian held one tiny hand up to him, eyes pleading, and Chung-Jing attempted to crawl across the broken dirt of the floor...but...with so much blood lost, he'd never have that sort of strength.

He was halfway across the room toward the closest-Jie-Lian-before the words of the entity caught up with him.

_Touch only the walls, floor, and doors_

No...

"No... _no_! Not _this_!" He couldn't! He _wouldn't_ be expected to turn and walk away! What if...what if they weren't...

If they were really...

A hissing laugh drowned out the soft pleading of his conscious siblings. "Oh, yes. They are so _very_ real. And you can save them, if you choose. Take them...and you will be released with them. In exchange for the priestess and the emperor, _go free!_ "

His hand shook, outstretched...just out of reach still of his youngest sister.

_My family_.. _.my family...or..._

He glanced over his shoulder toward the door, sitting just ajar now, promising the room ahead...to save Miaka, Hotohori, Nuriko, and...Yui...to revenge for everything this creature of a person had _done_ , or...just one touch, and the door would close forever. He could never save them, and it all would have been in vain.

The kingdom's leader _and_ it's hope...and... _Yui_...he'd be betraying it all. Or-or he'd betray his family. The reason he did all of this in the first place, the people he cared for, the people who mattered most _to him_.

"Of course..." The voice laughed. "Of course, I might be lying. They may simply be illusions! Take little Jie-Lian's hand, and you may damn your empire for nothing. Or, perhaps...her last memory will be of her dear older brother turning away from her for a person she's never met."

" _You_..." He grit his teeth, outstretched hand balling into a fist. " _Don't you dare use her name!_ "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" _Hotohori_!"

He looked...he looked so frail...he looked so pale like this, so small and weak, and it was _all her fault_! _This isn't-no, this isn't how it's supposed to be! It can't be like this!_

She gripped his shoulder and shook him violently, _desperately_. "No! No, no, _no!_ Please, Hotohori, _please_ , you can't! You can't _do this to me! You promised!_ "

Her final word erupted into a sob, and she fell over him, draping herself around him, willing her heat, her life, to somehow seep into him instead. _It...it isn't right! It can't be! He's not supposed to sacrifice himself for me like this! I'm-I'm supposed to be the one saving_ him _!_ "You can't die...you can't _die_ , Hotohori..." She shook her head, words broken up between desperate sobs. "I'm supposed to...I'm supposed to summon Suzaku for you and-and-I can't choose the wishes! You have to help me! _Please!_ "

A cool hand pressed to her cheek so lightly she almost didn't notice it. A surge of hope so strong her chest hurt rushed through her as she lifted her head-could he...could it have worked? Her willing and her hoping? His brown eyes were distant, almost unseeing now, but...still he smiled, so faint...so tender. "Mi...aka..."

She gasped and leaned forward, cutting off whatever else he had to say in a sudden kiss. There! _There_! He couldn't die! Not now, not like this! Not...not if she...kissed him. It didn't...fantasy stories...didn't work that way...

He tasted of blood and something acidic and tangy. It wasn't like him at all. It wasn't how she imagined a kiss was supposed to be. The hand on her cheek slipped gently to her hair, fingers simply...settling amongst the strands there, too weak to do any semblance of anything else. Through that horrible haze, she could see the warmth she thought...the warmth she thought he might reserve only for her still in those brown eyes of his.

When she spoke, it was only a whisper. "Hotohori...you can't...you have to...hold on...okay? I need you to hold on. I can't...you can't...t-try to make me your empress if you're not here."

His smile is so faint she might just be imagining it. "No...I suppose...I must be sure...to live to win your heart first..."

The smile she attempted to answer with broke down into another sob, but she nodded all the same. "R-right! B-because Yui's gonna have words with you if you think you can just...sweep me off and keep me without a fight. So you have to...you have to keep going."

He sighed softly in what she thought might be relief. "Then I...yes...must..."

He closed his eyes a moment, sighing once more, and...and...trailed off.

"H-Hotohori...?"

Her warrior did not stir.

"No! Hotohori, _please_!" She shook his shoulders once more, vision blurred with tears, voice crackling with her raw, painful sobs. "Please! Please, we'll find a Doctor, just _stay with me!_ Please! _Don't leave me!_ "

Nothing...nothing at all.

" _Hotohori_!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"...You understand now?" Kang-Lin smiled, somehow an even further gulf from her usual smile now, even in her gentle hopefulness. "That is why this must happen. Because of that, I...I need you to help me with them. Please, my dearest Liujuan, help me now." She took a step backward then, and held up one perfectly shaped hand. "Take my hand, and we will set right the Priestess and those presumptuous enough to travel with her. It's justice, Liujuan. You know it in your heart."

Nuriko stared down at that slim hand, flickering just slightly in the gloom, warm as her hands ought to have been, naturally delicate and soft in a way so many tried their hardest simply to mimic. An invitation...an invitation to make things right, to atone for mistakes and honor Kang-Lin's memories.

...But not by betraying comrades and loved ones.

"...No. If you were my sister...Kang-Lin would _never_ wish harm on _anyone_!"

Her smile vanished in an instant to a look of irritation. "How... _irritating_. Very well then, if you've made your choice..."

That outstretched hand lanced forward then, sharpening with its speed and shape, piercing flesh and bone with an ease that was so terribly foreign to the gentle hands of the true Kang-Lin. Gripping...

_My...heart...!_

"If you won't cooperate, then I will find you a better use, my dear _Liujuan._ "

_N-No!_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

This...this wasn't a _choice_. What sort of a monster would he be to turn his back on his family? To give in to the demands of something so vile as to do this? Damn his obligation to Suzaku, his country, his... _he wouldn't_ turn away from his family. There'd be another way. He'd save them, and he'd find another way to help his friends. He'd never made any vows except to his family, anyway.

Decision made, he took another step toward his sister, growling in frustration and fury. When he found the person responsible for this...he'd _kill them_.

A moment before his hand touched the outstretched one of Jie-Lian, the memory of the creature's earlier words surged up to him. _You must face your fears and travel through these rooms without touching anything._

He froze once more.

_My...fears...that means...  
_

Why go through this trouble to stop _him_ , when anyone who did this much research would know they should be trying to stop the _emperor_ , not him? But...maybe...

_If this is an illusion..._

He stumbled backward, closing his eyes and gripping his hands into fists. "You..."

"I think you should make your choice soon, warrior...I've almost grown bored, and that means time is _running out_. Decide, or I'll be forced to find entertainment with your friends..." The voice laughed again. "Although...I suppose you won't mind, will you? Given how easily you'll abandon them! very well then, I suppose I'll have to-"

He kicked through the wall the voice seemed to be emanating from. Or... _into_ it, at least. The force of the blow only left an impact crater in the wall, rather than breaking through to the room beyond...or wherever that voice had to be coming from. He expected as much, really, though he _had_ hoped it might get through...but at least the crash brought an end to the voice.

"Next time," he growled, as he turned toward the door once more, steeling himself with an internal mantra of _they're not real, none of it is real,_ "I promise that'll be _you_."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

" _Nuriko_?" It...couldn't be, could it? _It's not..._

...possible wasn't a word she should have been using while trapped in a magical book version of China. If she accepted the existence of magic and gods and fantastic worlds (she had to now, didn't she?) she didn't know what rules applied at all. Magical hulking transformations of incredibly strong and unpleasant allies were just as likely as suddenly getting dragged into a plane of darkness with a sense of gravity and a ground, weren't they?

For a few moments, she expected _something_ from 'Nuriko', some sort of a boast or a sneer or...something. Instead, the 'Nuriko' simply stared up at her blankly, although...with the gloom of wherever they were, any subtlety of expression would have been lost to Yui anyway. When it-she-did speak, it was as if Yui had never spoken at all. "If you won't even try, then I don't have a reason to drag this on any longer. What a useless friend you are."

_Useless_... _  
_

She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, readying herself for...whatever would come next. Maybe...'Nuriko' was right. After all, why would it come down to _her_ to defend Miaka, when her friend already had three (well, two now) super-powerful warriors to do it for her? And...one was an emperor of an entire country, who wanted to sweep her off and make her his empress. What could she provide, except that her need to go home had gotten Miaka captured in the first place?

Maybe...it would be best if...

Despite the strangeness of this place and her eyes being shut, she could still feel when the hulking Nuriko flung her, rather than do anything else. When she collided with the 'ground', she could almost feel tiles, and her impact echoed faintly. She groaned, and pressed a hand to her head to soothe the sudden ringing in it. _Could this place...could I be in a room of some sort?_

She reached out hesitantly with her other hand across the floor, wincing at the surge of pain when she twisted slightly and aggravated something bruised. _If this is a room...then...there must be things in here. Walls...an exit...something!_

The figure of Nuriko laughed once again, although...Yui thought it might have been to itself, rather than her. "So _easy_! All that fuss about 'other worlds', but you're nothing without Tamahome and His Majesty to protect you, are you? Neither of you are anything special at all." She was distracted attempting to be subtle about her searching, so she couldn't really look up at the figure of Nuriko, but she could hear the woman's voice getting louder, and just _barely_ , she thought she could hear the scuffle of footsteps on stone. "Well...all the better for me. When the both of you are gone, _I'll_ be the only one left to comfort Tama-baby and His Majesty!"

_Come on_...

The laughter of the woman loomed right over her now, she must have been preparing to strike, to use that monstrous strength of hers to end everything at once-or worse-but...there was something cool just brushing her finger tips...

_If I can just reach...!_

Her hand clasped around what felt like a fallen candle-stand of some sort just as another hand grabbed the hem of her dress and hauled her up off the ground. She didn't think-didn't really have time to-all that really mattered was that she _had to stop this woman_. Whatever happened to twist Nuriko's form-if in fact this wasn't just...some sort of natural thing Nuriko had been hiding all along-she couldn't just _give up_ and let Miaka be hurt...or Tamahome...

_Now!_ She swung her new-found weapon at the form of Nuriko, helped by the momentum of suddenly being lifted from the floor, and felt the impact reverberate through her own arm shortly before the woman cried out and let her fall to the ground. "I'll _never let you_!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Please...please... _you can't_ -"

He hadn't answered her at all. He _wouldn't_. Nothing she did would get any sort of reaction out of him at all, no matter how hard she tried...and...his breathing was _so shallow_. He'd even stopped entirely once or twice now for a few moments. How much longer did he have? What could they do? In the middle of the wilderness, far away from any kind of doctors at all...and they couldn't even help _Yui_ , could they do anything for Hotohori even if he were there?

Maybe...maybe...her world! Her world could save him, it _had_ to, because _someone had to sa_ _ve him_!

She fisted her hands in his shirt and hunched over him, as if she could protect him or just...keep him by holding on. "Someone...someone please...he _can't die_!"

"Is this the extent of your power, Lady of Legends? To look to others for help?" The voice that materialized behind her...was that same voice who'd held her captive! _No! But he should be dead!_

She straightened quickly and turned toward it, holding out her arms in a feeble attempt to shield Hotohori from any future attacks by this... _monster_. "Y-you! _Why are you doing this_?"

The voice was silent, before a dark figure stepped into view, golden eyes looking down at her with an expression of...disappointment? "A priestess that does nothing but let the ones devoted to her protect her at any cost is unworthy to call herself the priestess."

Who _was_ this? Some...some sort of...zealot? Could that be it? Had...had Hotohori...because...? She frowned, and stood to her feet, legs shaking from the emotions rampaging through her. "I...don't know what you heard, b-but...I never _asked_ to be called 'priestess'!"

The figure scoffed and shook its head. "Yet you eagerly took the title when it was offered, you allowed others to bow and to look up to you as a _savior_ , and you happily allow others to _die-_ "

" _NO!_ " She'd screamed without even realizing it as soon as she'd realized what the other was saying- _he's not going to die! He can't!_ Her hands dropped to her sides as she shook her head violently, fighting the urge to step forward and shake this person until they _realized_ , until...until they undid all of this and let Hotohori go-until they _fixed him_. "You're wrong! I never want anyone hurt for _me_. I don't...I never wanted _this_! I-If I could, I'd trade places with him, _I_ ' _d_ be the one suffering to protect _him_!"

The figure laughed. "You would give up your wishes and your promise to protect this country for something so pointless?"

He lip trembled, and she bit it hard to keep herself from breaking down. No...no, maybe...this kidnapper was the only one around. He was the only one who _might_ be able to help, and she had to _try_. "W-what...what kind of a priestess would I be...if I let the country lose its emperor? There's...there's no point in the three wishes if he's not there to choose them, if he's dead...th-then _I'd rather never have come here!_ "

The man was silent for a few moments, before he held up a hand. Beneath it, three images shimmered into view. In one, Tamahome limped through a room, beaten and bloody, stumbling with an intense determination she'd never seen on him before. In another, Nuriko stood transfixed and horrified, as a mirror image seemed to be...curling around her and melding into her-almost as if her reflection were slowly absorbing her into itself, and Yui...Yui skidded across a dark floor, almost as beaten looking as Tamahome, clinging to a dented and bloody candle-stand.

_All of my friends_... _they're all...are they all...doing this for_ me _?_

Her vision blurred with tears all over again, and she shook her head. "S-stop... _stop it!_ " Her hands balled into fists again, and she charged the man, reaching out to grab his cloak as if she could just... _force_ him to listen. " _Let them go!_ Take me and _let them go_!"

"Why would I do that, when I have all of you already?"

He was...of course he was right, but she couldn't just _give up_! She had to _try_. " _Please!_ Y-you don't need them if you have me, right? I could be a hostage! I wouldn't even fight or try to escape, a-and then you could ask for anything at all you wanted from Hotohori or Hong-Nan, right? Please, you _have to let them go_!"

For a few moments, the figure was silent. When it finally spoke, it sounded almost contemplative. "If you'll really do anything...there is _one thing_ that I will trade for their lives. But you must agree to it _first."_

She tensed as hope and dread warred inside of her. _One thing...? Could-could he mean...? I have to say yes, no matter what it is. I have to! But...wh-what if he makes me his maid, or slave? What if I have to be his cook, or...a farmhand, or...could he-he couldn't want..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone-him-bopping her unkindly over the head. "Hey, _listen to m_ y _demand_!"

"Ow! But you didn't even say what it was!"

"I _did_! You just weren't listening!"

She glared up at him and shook her head. _My head hurts, but...I'm not gonna let go! Not until he promises to let them go first!_

After a moment, he gave a disgusted sigh and shook his head. "I _said_ -I will let them go, but only if you take their place and their pain."

"Their...pain...?"

She could almost make out a smile under the dark cowl of the cloak. "I will heal them and let them go...but only if you agree to take their injuries yourself."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He'd be grateful for the allowance to lean against a wall without being 'disqualified' if he weren't _definitely_ going to kill that sadistic voice as soon as he made it through this room. The last room...he'd been flung violently from platform to platform across an unsettling void like some sort of...falling rock down a sheer cliff, knocked back and forth by the abruptly shifting walls.

He'd twisted his ankle on one landing, and broken something in his shoulder in a different impact...but if that creature thought the trap had somehow weakened him...it could just keep on thinking that right up until he ripped its heart out of its body. Possibly with his injured hand.

_I'm not giving up now. If I did...it would make that choice pointless. It'd be letting this guy...get away with it._

He grit his teeth and glared ahead as he pushed off from the wall and reached for the door.

" _Last one_."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Take their injuries yourself._

"I...can do that?"

The figure gave a small nod. "Oh, of course. It would be a simple matter. And in exchange, I will release them, healthy and safe. I'll even give your emperor the _antidote_."

_Hotohori_... She glanced back at him, still just barely breathing...still not responding. If he could, she knew he'd be shouting at her, jumping between them and demanding she say no. Well-actually she didn't _know_ , but...she thought he would. That's the sort of person he was.

And she...

She'd make the same decision even then. _I'm sorry, Hotohori_... _but you...I'm not any good for Hong-Nan without you, anyway. I wouldn't even know how to gather all the warriors and summon Suzaku to get the wishes._

She bit her lip and held out her arms again, bracing herself. " _Okay_! I'll do it! Leave them alone and I'll do it! Zap me!"

He was silent a few moments. "You would give up your quest? You would give up your destiny and your wishes for this?"

" _Of course I would_! Wishes...all the wishes in the world don't matter if you don't have the people you love to share them with! So...stop waiting and _do it_!"

"...Very well."

She closed her eyes, trying to brace herself again, but...no amount of bracing could prepare herself for the sensation of a dozen blades suddenly striking her wherever they'd sliced through Hotohori all at once. Nor the burning weakness of the poison surging through her, or the excruciating impacts on her shoulder and ribs as bones shattered by invisible forces, and something horrible and frozen dug painfully into her heart.

All the suffering of her friends...all of the things they went through for _her_ , it hurt _so much_.

An inhuman scream tore from her throat as the burning raged higher, filtering through every part of her, sizzling like fire in her veins, and...

She jerked awake with a powerful shriek, and stared at the clearing around her-surrounded by the camp and the (until just now) sleeping forms of her friends.

_A...n-night...mare_?


End file.
